Incredible photographs showcase some of Apple’s earliest prototypes

%name Incredible photographs showcase some of Apple’s earliest prototypes by Authcom, Nova Scotia\s Internet and Computing Solutions Provider in Kentville, Annapolis Valley

Apple’s designs have become so ubiquitous over the past ten years that’s it hard to remember a time when the company was struggling to find its identity. Early in Apple’s existence, the rising star of the industry brought in outside help to figure out how to make its products stand out. In fact, Frog, a design firm with studios all over the world, is credited with many of the earliest design prototypes for Apple’s future products. Of course, plenty of the designs were changed significantly from their conception (or scrapped entirely), but as Frog founder Hartmut Esslinger illustrates in his latest book, Keep it Simple, Apple might never have drawn so much attention without the assistance of his team. Among the stories, Esslinger includes some fascinating imagery of prototypes that never saw the light of day. We’ve included a few below, but head over the to The Verge to see the rest.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

Comcast CEO has a ridiculous explanation for why everyone hates his company

%name Comcast CEO has a ridiculous explanation for why everyone hates his company by Authcom, Nova Scotia\s Internet and Computing Solutions Provider in Kentville, Annapolis Valley

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts faced some tough questions at Re/code’s big conference on Wednesday, as one audience member actually asked him why his company and potential merger partner Time Warner Cable are the two most hated companies in America. As Business Insider’s Nicholas Carlson tells it, Roberts started off by saying that Comcast executives “don’t wake up everyday and go to work and say we want to be hated,” which is a fairly sensible thing to say. Then, however, things got weird.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

Samsung beats Apple to the punch, announces its own fitness platform

%name Samsung beats Apple to the punch, announces its own fitness platform by Authcom, Nova Scotia\s Internet and Computing Solutions Provider in Kentville, Annapolis Valley

You won’t be able to accuse Samsung of copying Apple this time! Per Business Insider, Samsung on Wednesday unveiled a new open platform called Samsung Architecture Multimedia Interactions (SAMI) that’s designed to serve as a bridge between vital sensors that track your fitness activity and other devices such as smartphones and computers. Since the platform will be free to use, Samsung is clearly hoping to get it embedded into as many gadgets and sensors as possible, much as Google did with Android years ago. Apple is widely expected to announce its own fitness platform as part of its iOS 8 announcements at the Worldwide Developers Conference next week.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

The FTC wants to put online privacy back in your hands

%name The FTC wants to put online privacy back in your hands by Authcom, Nova Scotia\s Internet and Computing Solutions Provider in Kentville, Annapolis Valley

When it comes to the Internet, your eyeballs are worth more than you know. Online advertising is a massive multi-billion dollar industry and the companies dominating the industry — Google and Facebook, for example — are the companies in possession of the most private data. This data is used to target ads at consumers based on their history and preferences, and the better a company can target ads, the more it can charge advertisers to display those ads.

It looks like the Federal Trade Commission is finally starting to realize that some companies go too far when collecting data and building a profile of Internet users to be sold to marketers, and consumers deserve to have more control over how they are tracked online.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

This is the cheapest 3D printer money can buy

%name This is the cheapest 3D printer money can buy by Authcom, Nova Scotia\s Internet and Computing Solutions Provider in Kentville, Annapolis Valley

Following the success of the $199 Micro 3D printer on Kickstarterthe project topped its $50,000 funding goal by $3,351,000 – a new, even more affordable 3D printer project has just started raising money on Indiegogo. Called the New Matter MOD-t, the 3D printer costs just $149 for the first 500 buyers, which is $100 less than its future commercial price, and will ship in April 2015, assuming the company can raise the $375,000 it needs to build it.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

New app brings turbocharged ‘Find My iPhone’ features to Android and iPhone

%name New app brings turbocharged ‘Find My iPhone’ features to Android and iPhone by Authcom, Nova Scotia\s Internet and Computing Solutions Provider in Kentville, Annapolis Valley

According to the mobile security experts at Lookout, more than 1 in 10 smartphone owners in America have had a handset stolen at some point. Of them, 68% were unable to recover their stolen devices. The issue of smartphone theft is clearly a serious one. In fact, the NYPD recently stated that thefts of Apple’s iPhone and iPad were to blame for the increased crime rate in New York City last year.

Thieves aren’t going to stop stealing smartphones anytime soon, so it’s time to take theft prevention and recovery systems more seriously.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

The gamble of a lifetime: Netflix Roulette is your best friend and worst enemy

%name The gamble of a lifetime: Netflix Roulette is your best friend and worst enemy by Authcom, Nova Scotia\s Internet and Computing Solutions Provider in Kentville, Annapolis Valley

It seems like the more channels pay TV companies add to their lineups, the harder it is to find something good to watch on TV. The same might be said for Netflix’s digital library of movies and TV shows. Netflix is constantly expanding thanks to new content deals the streaming video giant is always working to secure. But when it comes time to sit down and pick a movie or a new show to watch, however, we often draw a blank.

That’s where Netflix Roulette comes in.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

One-time Apple fanboy explains why he dumped his iPhone for a Moto X

%name One time Apple fanboy explains why he dumped his iPhone for a Moto X by Authcom, Nova Scotia\s Internet and Computing Solutions Provider in Kentville, Annapolis Valley

It’s always entertaining to read what happens when longtime iPhone devotees switch to another platform, regardless of whether they like their new platform of choice or absolutely hate everything about it. CNN’s David Goldman, however, is a somewhat unusual case — he’s a self-described former “big Apple fan” who dropped his iPhone last year in favor of the Moto X, Motorola’s little-bought Android phone that came in with lesser specifications than other Android heavyweights released last year such as the Galaxy S4 and the HTC One.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

How to get a refund on apps you buy from Google Play

%name How to get a refund on apps you buy from Google Play by Authcom, Nova Scotia\s Internet and Computing Solutions Provider in Kentville, Annapolis Valley

As crucial as apps have become to the mobile experience, people still often balk at the idea of paying for mobile applications. Spending $7 on a cup of coffee that lasts 15 minutes is no problem, but spending even $1 on an app that might dramatically improve one’s life is somehow a far more difficult commitment. People will work past their hesitations as time moves on but in the meantime, convincing people to spend money on mobile apps can be a tough sell.

It might be somewhat easier, however, when Android users realize that they can easily get a refund on apps that don’t live up to their expectations.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report