WE CAN’T WAIT! Sequel to 2014’s most exciting Android phone detailed in big leak
There were several fantastic Android smartphones that debuted in 2014. What started as a very boring year for smartphone fans ended up packing much more action than we expected, thanks in large part to a handful of surprising Motorola handsets and a few other gems that launched in the second half. But there was one smartphone that most people in America have probably never heard of that ended up being the most exciting Android handset of the year for serious Android fans, and its sequel may have just been detailed for the first time.
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The world’s most accurate Apple analyst says Apple is about to crush its iPhone sales record
Things have been going pretty well for Apple’s iPhone business this year and this holiday shopping season is shaping up to be its biggest yet. Per 9to5Mac, KGI Securities has released a new research note estimating that Apple will sell 71.5 million iPhones this holiday quarter, headlined by blowout sales from the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
That figure would crush the record 51 million iPhones Apple sold last year during the holiday quarter.
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How GM’s OnStar is building a better Check Engine Light
Filed under: GM, Technology, Safety, Ownership and Repair
Cars Will Warn Of Failures Before They Happen
Soon, OnStar will be used to mine your car’s systems and compare its findings against vast pools of data in the cloud.
We’ve all become accustomed to our cars’ dashboards warning us of an impending calamity, be it low fuel, low tire pressure or even the dreaded nonspecific “check engine” light. But what if your car could tell you specifically that your alternator is going, or that your water pump is about to fail? That technology is coming, says General Motors‘ executive vice president of global product development, Mark Reuss. In a Thursday media luncheon, Reuss confirmed to us that GM is working on the technology using cars equipped with its OnStar communications network. According to Reuss:
“Being able to predict about when that [a failure] is going to happen prevents walk homes. If there’s a problem with a brake rotor, if there’s a problem with a brake system or a steering system – being able to predict that [failure] and inform the driver that they need to go to a dealer and have that service performed before it happens, that’s really good R&D.”
Today, OnStar is best known for its subscription services that help drivers deal with inconveniences and problems, from turn-by-turn navigation to automatic emergency services notifications in the event of an accident. But soon, OnStar will be used to mine your car’s systems and compare its findings against vast pools of data in the cloud. If it finds variations in the performance of your vehicle’s systems that are indicative of impending failures, OnStar will then be able to automatically notify you of the potential problem utilizing in-car screens, either via the infotainment system or gauge cluster display. OnStar presently has the ability to notify owners of vehicle maintenance intervals using email, so conceivably notifications could be delivered in this way, too.
So, will this be yet another subscription-based service for GM? Not necessarily. Reuss says:
“We’re figuring out the business model right now. But theoretically, we’d like to offer that to all of our customers. We already give away a ton of money on that equipment of OnStar in the car that nobody really pays for. So we’re going to use it.”
So, is this pie-in-the-sky technology? No, Reuss says. “We’re testing the system now with our employees,” he says, which suggests it’s coming soon.
Now, how long will it be before OnStar checks to make sure your preferred dealer has the required replacement part in stock and reserves a service appointment for you?
Continue reading How GM’s OnStar is building a better Check Engine Light
How GM’s OnStar is building a better Check Engine Light originally appeared on Autoblog Canada on Sat, 22 Nov 2014 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Great news: Apple Pay will soon be accepted by a lot more small businesses
So far we’ve heard a lot about Apple Pay support at major retailers, but what about the small businesses in your neighborhood? CNN reports that help for them is on the way because Square founder Jack Dorsey says that the company is working on adding support for Apple Pay to its popular payments system.
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Why Comcast is pushing broadband data caps that nobody wants
Do you want your home broadband services to have strict data caps like the ones on your mobile data plans? Of course you don’t! But that isn’t stopping Comcast and Time Warner Cable from pushing them anyway.
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The FCC won’t decide net neutrality’s fate this year
The net neutrality debate is poised to extend well into 2015, as this crucial matter is neither on the FCC’s agenda on Friday, nor in its December session, FCC spokeswoman Kim Hart said. Apparently, FCC’s Chairman Tom Wheeler is “caught” between the wishes of the White House and the needs of Internet service providers.
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Orchestra uses 24 GoPro cameras to give you an amazing up-close look at its performance
It’s always nice to see orchestras try to embrace new technology to build more of an audience for classical music and the Czech Philharmonic has to decided to take things to another level by using 24 different GoPro cameras to give us a first-hand look at what it’s like to perform in a concert hall as a professional musician.
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New leak gives another look at what Lollipop will look like on your HTC One (M8)
There have been a lot of great Android phones released this year but we still have a soft spot in our hearts for the HTC One (M8), which really saw HTC make some excellent refinements and improvements to its already outstanding hardware design. And the good news is that the One (M8) will soon get a whole lot better with the addition of Android 5.0 Lollipop, which is one of the best new releases of Android we’ve seen yet.
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Video: Cortana takes on Siri yet again in Microsoft’s new commercial
Microsoft might not be able to compete with Apple when it comes to smartphone sales, but that isn’t stopping the PC giant from repeatedly claiming that its personal assistant is superior to Siri. In the latest commercial from Microsoft, Cortana and Siri have yet another conversation.
This time around, Cortana is curious to find out how Siri has changed since moving over to the iPhone 6 Plus. As expected, Siri’s answers are less than satisfying.
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Amazon reportedly developing a new weapon to combat Netflix
In order to better compete against rivals like Netflix, Amazon may launch a free, ad-supported streaming video service at some point early next year, The New York Post has learned.
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