Although Portland, Ore. is known as the city that’s perpetually stuck in the early 1990s, it might be about to get a fiber network that’s very 21st century. The Oregonian reports that Portland’s city council has voted unanimously to approve Google Fiber’s franchise agreement with the city, which paves the way for Google’s high-speed fiber network to set up shop in the northwest for the first time.
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Following Target, Neiman Marcus and Michael’s Stores, all major retailers which have been targeted by hackers in the past months, restaurant chain P.F. Chang’s China Bistro on Thursday confirmed that its payment system has also been breached, with credit and debit card data from some of its locations having been exposed.
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One big driver for wearable computers is that they’ll supposedly give us improved health and fitness data, but what about computers that you can eat and drink from? Mark One has just taken the wraps off its Vessyl, a new 13-ounce “smart cup” that will not only be able to detect and breakdown what you’re pouting into your cup but also give you nutritional information on it such as how many calories it has as well as how much sugar, fat and caffeine it contains. You can view data on your drunks either on the side of the cup itself or through the official Vessyl iOS app.
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While many gamers believed that the trailer shown for The Legend of Zelda Wii U during E3 was just a short animation, Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma revealed that the incredible E3 trailer showed actual gameplay as opposed to a short movie.
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When we saw that Gmail last month became the first Android app to reach 1 billion downloads, we just knew Google Maps couldn’t be that far behind. And sure enough, Android Police points out that Google Maps has recently crossed the 1 billion download threshold, making it the second Android app in history to reach this milestone. Of course, like Gmail, Google Maps comes preinstalled on most Android phones, so it shouldn’t surprise us that it reached 1 billion downloads at around the same time as Gmail. Nonetheless, it’s an extremely impressive milestone for both apps and a reminder of just how much Google’s apps and services have been conquering the world, even among people who don’t like using Android as their primary platform.
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Microsoft’s digital assistant, Cortana, is one of the most impressive of its kind, outperforming its competition on an iPhone and a Moto X even in its early preview state. In fact, the early buzz surrounding Cortana has forced Microsoft to consider whether or not it would be worth bringing Cortana to more platforms in the future.
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Apple on Friday announced a new program that invites millions of iPhone users across 37 different countries to swap out their iPhone chargers, which may be faulty. According to Apple’s website, the company has determined that one of its iPhone charger models can potentially overheat and pose a safety risk. Apple says overheating only occurs in rare cases, but it apparently decided to play it safe and offer users the opportunity to swap affected chargers out for newer models.
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Peering agreements between ISPs and transit companies or content providers aren’t technically net neutrality issues but they could still be potentially harmful to the open Internet depending on their terms. To bring some more light into this perpetually shady area, Federal Communications Commission Tom Wheeler said on Friday that the FCC is going to investigate peering deals that Netflix has signed with Comcast, Verizon and other carriers to determine whether the terms are fair or if ISPs are using their market power to charge content companies excessive fees in exchange for getting improved connections to their network.
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If it had a release date, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain might have been my game of the show. I was a late comer to the series, but from the opening moment of the trailer at Sony’s press conference to the gameplay demo I saw on the last day of E3, I couldn’t have been more excited to finally get my hands on the first open world Metal Gear game. Sadly, it’ll be a while before any of us get to play MGS V.
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Steve Jobs had a number of talents that made him the brilliant CEO we all remember, but one of his most impressive abilities is one that isn’t often discussed: Jobs had an uncanny ability to attract talent and surround himself with some of the most skilled executives the industry has ever known. In terms of design, Jobs knew early on that Apple’s products would need a look and a UX that set them apart if they were going to succeed, and he brought on Hartmut Esslinger in 1982 to make products that people would love and remember.
Esslinger did just that, and he is still revered in the industry today. He is currently a DeTao Master of Industrial Design with The Beijing DeTao Masters Academy in China, and his opinions are still widely respected.
Unfortunately for Apple, he happens to think that the “exciting new product category” the company is about to enter is stupid.
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