Apple is currently in talks with Time Warner Cable and other potential partners to add video content to a new Apple TV set-top box, according to people familiar with the matter. Apple is reportedly hoping to reveal the new device in April, and start selling it for the December holidays, but this may change since the company has still not secured agreements with distribution and programming partners. The device will be an update of the current Apple TV, with an upgraded interface, faster processor and easier navigation. Continue reading Apple to Launch Updated TV Box, in Talks with Content Partners

Virgin Atlantic Upper Class passengers became the first air travelers to benefit from wearable technology while flying into London Heathrow airport this week. Concierge staff has begun using Google Glass and the Sony Smartwatch to give a more personal customer service experience by greeting travelers by name and keeping them updated on their flight status. Down the line, wearable tech may even be used to track travelers’ food and beverage preferences. Continue reading Virgin Atlantic Turns to Wearable Tech for Enhanced Service

Marketing data and analytics firm comScore has announced a partnership with Google to help advertisers understand specifically who is looking at their advertisments, and optimize the ads in real time. This partnership will combine Google’s DoubleClick ad-serving platform and comScore’s Validated Campaign Essentials (vCE) technology for measuring ad performance. The vCE technology will measure how viewers are interacting with Google advertisements. Continue reading Google and comScore Combine Efforts to Optimize Online Ads

The growing flood of news delivered via the Internet has created a dilemma for readers: how to efficiently sift through the never-ending treadmill of information. Facebook’s new Paper app and the newly updated media-reading app Flipboard are both trying to leverage the effectiveness of a traditional newspaper teamed with the convenient functionality of a smartphone app. According to one review, Paper helps provide a broad view of the news, while Flipboard is easier to personalize. Continue reading News Apps Review: Comparing Facebook Paper with Flipboard

In response to the evolving user base of popular social networks such as Facebook, a new venture called Blend hopes to return social media to a younger crowd with its app designed exclusively for undergraduate students. San Jose, CA-based Blend currently enables users to share photos and win gift cards, but has plans to become more of a social network with interactive features like commenting. Founded in May 2013, Blend has nine employees, including its three young co-founders. Continue reading Social Network Attempts to Recapture Early Spirit of Facebook

If Cisco’s predictions are correct, wearable technology is about to experience a massive growth spurt. The company projects that by 2018, 177 million wearables will make a sizeable contribution to the amount of data consumed around the world. In its annual report on mobile broadband growth, Cisco projects the 10 billion mobile connections around the world will blast through 190 exabytes of data — 11 times the amount consumed in 2013. Continue reading Cisco Predicts Massive Increase in Data Consumption by 2018

The 2014 Winter Olympics begin tonight from Sochi with a wide range of options for viewers this time around. Television networks will broadcast a great deal of coverage over the next 18 days, and fans will have numerous options for streaming content via smartphones, tablets and PCs. In addition to the traditional TV broadcasts, a number of websites, apps and social media platforms including Facebook will provide viewers with extended coverage and event highlights. Continue reading Winter Olympics Available via TV, Websites, Apps, Social Media

Following a five-month search, Satya Nadella has officially been named Microsoft’s third CEO in the company’s nearly four-decade-long history. Yesterday, the 22-year Microsoft vet was named to succeed Steve Ballmer. In addition, co-founder Bill Gates will vacate his chairman’s post to become technical adviser to Nadella and help shape Microsoft’s product strategy moving forward, including a focus in the mobile space. Gates is not expected to play a role in day-to-day management. Continue reading It’s Official: Satya Nadella to Serve as Microsoft Chief Exec

Amazon plans to offer brick-and-mortar retailers a new checkout system using its Kindle tablets, expected to be available as early as this summer. The development stems from Amazon’s acquisition last year of certain tech and engineers from GoPago, a startup known for its cloud-based mobile payment platform. The move could provide Amazon with a significant growth opportunity. However, it also faces numerous competitors in the checkout system space.  Continue reading Amazon to Introduce Kindle Checkout System for Retail Stores

Avegant’s virtual reality headset Glyph features a visually stunning, immersive, 3D retinal display. The $499 Glyph does not have a screen like many of its competitors, including the Oculus Rift. Instead, it uses a projection method emitting light from a low-power LED that reflects light on both eyes’ retinas with lenses and about two million mirrors, so as not to cause eye fatigue. While many people are impressed, there are concerns regarding the headset’s size and cost. Continue reading Avegant Glyph: Virtual Reality Headset Gets Positive Review

Last week, Facebook finally unveiled Paper, its much-anticipated mobile app that allows users to enjoy a personalized news stream. The app is launching today for the iPhone (an Android release has yet to be announced). Paper is essentially staffed by a computer algorithm and human curators, based on links shared by Facebook’s 1.2 billion users. Paper offers news in sections, similar to those of a newspaper, and uses smartphone tech such as gyroscopes and sensors to help drive interactive navigation. Continue reading Paper: Facebook Launches Mobile App for Streaming News

Apple is reportedly looking into ways to expand into a mobile-payments service that would go beyond the iTunes store. Down the line, it might compete directly with the likes of Google, eBay’s PayPal and Square, which have become ubiquitous in mobile payment processing for physical goods and services. For Apple, that would likely mean consumers would be able to use their iPhones or iPads to make in-store and online purchases with greater ease. Continue reading Apple Could Make Shopping Easier with Mobile Payments Service

Although many have thought that phones are largely used to consume short form content, stats recently released by BuzzFeed suggest otherwise. More than 50 percent of BuzzFeed’s traffic now comes from mobile devices. Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith believes this is partly due to the form factor of mobile devices. They feature a simple singular screen that allows the reader to infinitely scroll through an article without any disruptions, similar to a regular page of a book.  Continue reading BuzzFeed: Consumers Reading Longer Stories on Their Phones

BitTorrent’s new file-syncing technology, BitTorrent Sync, can synchronize files between computers and mobile devices without copying data to a cloud server. The company is hoping that, in light of the National Security Agency’s controversial harvesting of information stored in data centers, people will be attracted to the new technology. The only way the NSA could gather this data would be by going directly to the source where the information is stored. Continue reading BitTorrent Sync Transfers Data Without Help From the Cloud