OS X has a new name, but macOS Sierra is otherwise business as usual for Apple: continue to draw together the Mac on your desk and the iPhone in your pocket. That means features we’ve become familiar with on iOS, like Siri and Apple Pay, making the leap to your Mac, but also a blurring of the lines between your … Continue reading
This week the folks at LG have revealed a concert that’ll take place in Iceland. There the band Of Monsters and Men will be playing a set where, behind them, massive LG displays will be showing captured visions of the Aurora Borealis. Color on black, light shining through the displays just as the Aurora shines through the blackness of the … Continue reading
The joys of motorsport are in watching the perfect fusion of mechanical engineering and human ingenuity, right? Apparently not, as Formula E’s leaders have decided that the competition will now expand to include virtual races. In an interview with Re…
Microsoft’s mobile ecosystem is in rough shape, so it didn’t help when Nokia sold its Here mapping software to a German auto consortium. That group promptly pulled Windows support, leaving users with few navigation options. However, the software gian…
The political mud-slinging that has defined Britain’s EU referendum has almost come to a close. At 7am tomorrow morning, polling stations will open and UK citizens will be allowed to vote on whether to leave or stay in the European Union. Arguments h…
As of last week, OS X has a new name. It’s macOS now — macOS Sierra, specifically. The newest version of Apple’s desktop operating system arrives next month in the form of a public beta, with the final build coming out sometime in the fall. All sign…
Amazon has launched a new and improved Kindle e-reader today. The new e-reader is the first update to the company’s most affordable model in two years and it is thinner and lighter than its predecessor. It also happens to be the first Kindle from Amazon since the 2010 Kindle Keyboard to be available in white. Starting today, Amazon is also going to offer the Kindle Paperwhite in white color as well.
The updated Kindle is also the company’s cheapest model. At $79.99, it features twice the memory of its predecessor, happens to be thinner and lighter, and has a more rounded design for easy one-handed use.
Even though it has a touchscreen display it’s not as good as the 300 ppi display of the Kindle Paperwhite. The company doesn’t say how long the battery will last but says that it should be good for weeks of usage on a single charge.
Amazon hasn’t made any drastic changes to this e-reader even after two years, but that’s to be expected from the company, it normally makes incremental changes to its new e-readers. Those who want to get more out of their e-reader can always go for Amazon’s new and rather expensive Kindle Oasis.
The new Kindle is available from Amazon starting today and so is the $119.99 Kindle Paperwhite in white color.
Amazon Launches Redesigned Kindle, Offers Kindle Paperwhite In White , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Have you ever been in a situation where someone won’t stop texting you with unwanted “Netflix and chill” requests? Have you tried turning them down subtly but they just can’t seem to take a hint? Why not outsource this to an intelligent chatbot. Burner, the app that lets you create and destroy temporary phone numbers, has introduced a new texting bot called Ghostbot. It specializes in turning down prospective suitors that you have no interest in.
Setting up the bot is very easy. Create a number in the Burner app and assign Ghostbot to that active number. You’ll find it very helpful in turning down that Tinder match you can’t even remember why you gave your number to.
Ghostbot analyzes texts that you receive via your Burner number and then sends an appropriate reply. For example, if you get a text asking you out it might send back a curt “I’m busy but I’ll get back to you” reply which is just short and curt enough to get the message across. If they still can’t take the hint you can always block their number.
Ghostbot is being showcased by Burner to demonstrate that developers can use its platform to create their own bots that work with Burner. It will be interesting to see what other bots developers create for Burner.
Ghostbot Texting Bot Keeps Unwanted Netflix And Chill Requests At Bay , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Folks in the United States can finally get their hands on the Samsung Gear 360 virtual reality camera, but there is a caveat. Samsung has officially announced the camera’s launch in the U.S. today and has also confirmed the price. This camera was first shown off at Mobile World Congress back in February this year. Naturally, there were many who were anxious for it to hit the market, unfortunately, Samsung isn’t making it terribly easy to get your hands on one.
Samsung confirmed today that the Gear 360 camera costs $349.99 in the United States. It also confirmed the limited release of this camera in the country.
The company is only going to sell it at VidCon which is underway in Anaheim, California. Gear 360 is only going to be available for purchase this week during VidCon, so if you’re not near the city you’re out of luck.
If you are really interested in picking one up you may have to find someone who can attend VidCon and get one for you or else you’re out of luck like everybody else.
Samsung does plan on a full launch of the Gear 360 but the company says that it’s going to provide details about that later this year. It may take a couple of months before the 360 is available at your local Best Buy.
Samsung Gear 360 Finally Goes On Sale In The U.S. , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
New York attorney general Eric T. Schneiderman recently released a report detailing his office’s investigation into the ticketing industry titled “Obstructed View: What’s Blocking New Yorkers From Getting Tickets.” Of particular focus within the report is the rampant use of “bots,” which allow brokers to purchase a significant amount of tickets in a short amount of time — sometimes as many as 1,000 in the first minute that tickets go on sale. Schneiderman’s report primarily focuses on concerts and sporting events, but I want to expand the conversation to an industry not mentioned, one that contributed $12.57 billion to the NYC economy between 2014-2015 and supported 89,000 jobs — Broadway.
My agency specializes in entertainment and sits on the front lines of some of the world’s most celebrated ticketed events, including Broadway. I’ve seen first-hand the rise of digital and the effect it’s had on the ticketing landscape, and I’m in support of any efforts to bring this conversation to the forefront. Yes, some of the hottest shows on Broadway are feeling the impact of bots. But my fear is that we’re fighting the battle on the wrong front.
In the entertainment business, when something has heat — whether it’s a concert, sporting event, or a Broadway show — it attracts exploitation. If there’s an easy buck to be made, someone is going to try to make it, bots or no bots.
Don’t misunderstand me — consumers are getting ripped off. That’s a problem, and actions should be taken to help solve it. But the issue of bots is not the problem keeping me up at night. The issue that I’m losing sleep over is the war that NYC’s most beloved industry is fighting on the audience development front as it struggles to replenish aging audiences. It’s here that more than ever before we need inventive collaborations between our local government officials and the powers-that-be on Broadway.
This year alone, 2 million seats on Broadway will go unsold. And this is not an outlier year. This number has remained consistent for the past decade — a decade that concurrently saw incredible financial success for the industry. Using the average ticket price on Broadway, those 2 million empty seats represent approximately $200 million in annual untapped equity.
Meanwhile, one million NYC public school students are watching the deterioration of arts education within their schools. If you are a student who lives in an impoverished neighborhood, chances are you have no arts programs at all.
After watching this cycle for years, I founded The Situation Project in 2011 to provide high performing NYC public schools in these arts-deficient, underserved areas access to this unused inventory. The majority of these experiences have been Broadway shows. Through this 501(c)3, producers (who can all confidently project when they’ll have dead inventory) offer tickets at a reduced rate for these deserving school groups. It’s a simple win-win. Shows sell large groups of tickets that would otherwise go unsold; schools enrich their arts curriculum. And Broadway builds new audiences. Make that a win-win-win.
While we are proud of our efforts, we are only a drop in the bucket. All of the major Broadway players are committed to these efforts through many of their own initiatives — think The Shubert Foundation, Jujamcyn Theatres’ Givenik, The Nederlander Organization’s Jimmy Awards, and The Broadway League‘s Broadway Bridges.
All of these organizations have done and will continue to do valuable work for Broadway, but we need more. We need legislation that supports inventive private/public partnerships that can inject arts access where traditional funding has dried up. We need tax credits for producers who prioritize inventive uses for their unused inventory. We need incentive programs for schools that are prioritizing arts enrichment opportunities for their students. In short, we need the same energy and outrage that’s focused on bots to be focused on the creation of new policies that demand arts be a central part of our local students’ educational development, no matter the political or fiscal climate.
On Broadway, we’re sitting on untapped equity that could power this type of policy — if only we make it a priority.
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