Hasta La Gadget!

Belkin’s WeMo Insight power-tracking wireless power socket has finally launched, offering internet-of-things and home automation fans a way not only to remotely control appliances, but see how much electricity they’re sucking down. The switch, revealed back in September, works with Belkin’s existing WeMo line-up of motion-sensors and remote plugs, with control from an iOS or […]

Google is creating a fiber optic network to bring faster connectivity to one of Earth’s biggest, yet somehow most internet-disconnected, continents: Africa. With Project Link, the search giant is offering Uganda’s capital city a reprieve from dial-up speeds and shoddy uplinks by offering local internet providers and mobile carriers access to its broadband network, which they can in turn offer to their respective customers. According to Mountain View, only 16 percent of the continent’s some billion residents are online; hopefully this initiative is the start of bumping that number significantly. Still, the implementation is in the hands of Kampala’s data providers — we’re crossing our fingers that they don’t muck up Google’s graciousness with greed and high prices. As it stands though, this seems like a much more, ahem, grounded method for bringing the internet to remote areas than balloons ever did.

Filed under: Wireless, Internet, Google

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Via: Official Google Africa Blog

Source: Project Link

It may not have received the same amount of buzz as Instagram this morning, but social GPS app Waze is another hugely popular service that’s finally reaching the Windows Phone masses today. The free app brings over several of the same features found on other platforms, such as live routing, road alerts, the cheapest gas stations and live maps.

It’s interesting to see Waze — a navigation service acquired by Google earlier this year — now coming to Microsoft’s mobile OS. This is especially noteworthy given the choppy relationship Microsoft and Google have had in relation to services like YouTube and Exchange. While we don’t want to assume that more Google-owned products will be heading to the platform — especially given the fact that Waze was already working on a Windows Phone beta prior to acquisition — this is definitely a step in the right direction and hopefully will be followed up by other official Google services.

This post was updated to reflect the fact that Waze had a Windows Phone beta test in progress prior to the Google acquisition.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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Source: Windows Phone Store

These days, a mobile OS is only as good as its ecosystem, and no company knows this fact more than Microsoft. Its smartphone platform known as Windows Phone has had plenty of growing pains during the first three years of existence, which is mainly related to a limited number of big apps and game titles. Despite these struggles, Microsoft has slowly but surely been able to court heavy-hitting developers — even if only one or two at a time. Today, however, a gaping hole in the Windows Phone Store will be plugged, as Instagram will be available as a free download beginning today around 2pm ET.

The Instagram app, which will be available only for Windows Phone 8 (sorry, legacy users), will offer Live Tiles that refresh with new data on the Start screen, and will also come with support for fast-resume; sadly, there are quite a few features that won’t be available right away, such as video capture and uploading, photo tagging, viewing geotaxis and — arguably the most important — in-app image capture. Instagram explains that it wanted to get the app out to users as quickly as possible, so a few features had to be left out of the first version (which Instagram is calling a beta), but it assures us that future updates will come with plenty more functionality (as updates are often wont to do). Still, the addition of official support by Instagram is a good indicator of health for Windows Phone.

Update: Despite Microsoft’s and Instagram’s repeated assurance that in-app image capture would not be available, it appears that it’s actually included in the official app after all. Pressing the camera button takes you into the camera roll by default, but choosing the camera icon allows you to take a pic. Once you take the image, it auto-selects that shot and lets you upload it through Instagram.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Microsoft

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Google’s Nexus Wireless Charger, designed to work with the Nexus 4 and 5 smartphones and the Nexus 7 tablet, is available for purchase today on Google Play. The compact Qi power cube ships with a 9-watt AC adapter and a micro-USB cable, and it may make it to your doorstep by the end of the week (if you opt for the $17 overnight delivery). For residents of Hong Kong and India, the good nws is that the Nexus 5 and Nexus are now available on Google Play. The charger will run you $50 plus tax on its own, and another $5.29 for ground shipping. Snag it now at the source link below.

Filed under: Cellphones, Household, Tablets, Wireless, Mobile, Google

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Via: Nexus (Google+)

Source: Google Play