Sunday
Jan072018

Report claims Google keeps getting its Gbikes stolen, loses between 100 and 250 a week

The Pancake of Heaven/Wikimedia

Google deployed over 1,100 bicycles or “Gbikes” for its employees to use on its sprawling campus but it seems those bikes have been making more and more trips outside of the company’s campus—with both employees and locals of Mountain View using these outside of Google’s grounds. The company reportedly loses between 100 and 250 of these bikes a week. The two-wheelers showing up everywhere from local school grounds to neighbors’ lawns, to the bottom of the town creek, and even on the roof of O’Malley’s Sports Pub. One was even seen in a TV commercial for the cosmetics brand Garnier and another made it as far as Mexico.

According to the Wall Street Journal report, it seems like locals feel comfortable “renting” these bikes from the company like the tech giant owes it to the community or something, even Mayor Ken Rosenberg admitted to have used one of these bikes. Google is trying to lessen the loss of its Gbikes though by installing GPS trackers on the bikes or toying with the idea of locking the bikes with an app. The company even hires a team of 30 contractors to help retrieve these missing bikes.

 

Source: Gizmodo

Sunday
Jan072018

CES 2018: LG’s new 65-inch OLED TV concept can be rolled up like a poster

LG showed off is Wallpaper TV at last year’s CES. This time around, the company is going thinner and is showing off a new concept that makes that TV look bulky. This new concept is a 65-inch 4K OLED TV that is basically like a giant poster. It comes with a giant, block-like base where the TV rolls back into when not in use. Why would anyone want a TV like this, you ask? LG argues that this will be a space saver and boost portability (not that we’d want to lug around a 65-inch TV, but we get the idea). We don’t know when this concept might actually be seen in stores but as BGR points out, it does give us hope that those “electronic newspapers” that you can stow away might be in our future sooner than we think.

Saturday
Jan062018

Canadian Reviewer Weekly Roundup 12/31-1/06

Canadian International AutoShow to offer electric vehicle test drives

Apple Watch helps you ring in 2018 with fireworks on the clock face

OnePlus starts rolling out Android Oreo update for the 5T through OxygenOS Open Beta 1

Samsung acknowledges there are charging issues for some Note8 and S8 devices

OnePlus 5 gets Face Unlock feature through Open Beta 3

Camera NX brings Pixel 2’s portrait mode to older Pixel and Nexus devices

Microsoft discontinues production of the Kinect Adapter

LG to include Google Assistant and its own AI assistant into 2018 TV lineup

Apple acquires Vancouver development studio Buddybuild

Tesla Model 3 makes it from LA to New York in 50 hours

Netflix confirms sequel for ‘Bright’

Screens for some Galaxy Note8, S8 users reportedly wake up on their own

Dell unveils new XPS 13 design with thinner and lighter form factor

The OnePlus 5T Sandstone White Limited Edition is an object of desire

All Mac and iOS devices are affected by Spectre and Meltdown flaw

Jimmy Iovine rumoured to be leaving Apple Music in August

Meltdown and Spectre patches for Surface devices released by Microsoft

HP announces three education focused Chromebook devices

Twitter: Blocking world leaders on its service will ‘hide important information’

Netflix teases new David Letterman series, shows Obama as the show’s first guest

Cortana's music recognition feature no longer works the way it used to

Belkin reveals 2018 lineup of smart charging solutions

CES 2018: Acer showcases the thinnest computer in the world, the Acer Swift 7

CES 2018: myCharge launches All Powerful battery pack with 20,000mAh capacity

Saturday
Jan062018

CES 2018: myCharge launches All Powerful battery pack with 20,000mAh capacity

If you want a battery pack that can charge almost anything, the new myCharge All Powerful battery pack is for you. It’s not the most portable battery pack but it comes with a USB-A port, USB-C port, AC outlet and even Qi-based wireless charging. According to the company, the 65-watt AC outlet built into the All Powerful can run a 32-inch TV, power most laptops, and operate a camping fan or light; the USB-A and USB-C can charge most of your mobile devices; and the Qi-based charger supports 10W fast charge. This battery pack is going to be available in April 2018 and will come with a retail price of US$199.99 (around CA$250).

Source: MacRumors