Amazon announced two new Kindle Fire HD tablets — a 7-inch model for $139 and a 6-inch model for only $99. Both options come in a fun variety of colors (blue, bright green, magenta, black, and white) and are a significant upgrade from last year's $139, 7-inch device.
Design and Display
Besides the fun colors, the new tablets also have a better display than their predecessor. Both screens look brighter with more vivid colors, and the smaller version has a crisper resolution than last year's device (252 pixels per inch versus 216 pixels per inch).
The screens are Gorilla glass, which means they're resistant to scratches or cracks, and you can drop the tablets from up to a meter without worrying about them shattering.
Because Amazon knows that lots of people use its devices when they're at the beach or the pool, the company made sure the tablets could withstand sunscreen, and salt water or fresh water spray. But no, they're not actually waterproof. Amazon even demoed the tumbler that it uses to test how the tablet would fare if it spent a year rolling around in someone's cluttered purse:
The 6-inch model only slightly bigger than some of the "phablet" phones on the market, like Apple's 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus or Samsung's 5.7-inch Galaxy Note 4. It still fits comfortably in most pockets though, as with a phablet, it sticks out the top.
Amazon wasn't shy about comparing these new models to its competitors: The new Fire HDs are apparently two times more "reliable" (read: break-proof) than the iPad Mini and 20 times more reliable than other similarly-priced tablets from other makers. However, it's not really clear how Amazon is measuring that reliability. In the end, just know the new Kindle Fire tablets are very durable.
The speakers on the new Fire's sound great too. They're much louder and clearer than the ones on the Samsung device that Amazon compared it to in a demo. Amazon uses Dolby Digital Plus audio technology.
What's On The Inside
Both new tablets have a quad-core processor and a battery that will last up to 8 hours, even when you're reading, watching videos, and listening to music. The processor is great for playing games, and supports 3 times the graphics performance of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 4 -- For more information read the original article here.
There's a video going around that claims to know what women really want — manservants.
The jist is that hiring strippers to make a woman feel good isn't just cliche, it's plain uncomfortable.
So the video pivots from a woman disgusted by the male junk being thrust in her face to a team of handsome men, all dressed in tuxedos.
That's essentially what ManServants aims to provide: good looking men you can order around.
TechCrunch reporter Sarah Buhr spent some time with a Manservant named Fabio. Here's how she described it:
The men do things like serenade you with Disney songs, paint your toenails, take Instagrams of you and your friends, throw doves out when you arrive, fill up your glass of champagne, or act as a general bodyguard against pretend paparazzi. “Some women even want to be proposed to over and over in public,” says Wai Lin. Women have fantasies about the opposite gender just like men do. Though she also adds that men hire the men servants, too. A couple hired a whole flock of them to stand there and look pretty during a gay wedding a couple of weeks back.
ManServants can make $80 an hour or $300 a day to do things like “serve drinks, light cigarettes, take Instagram photos, and feed grapes.”
When might you need a ManServant? Anytime, really. ManServants gives a few examples on their website: bachelorette parties, girls night out, and a pool party needing a cabana boy, to name a few.
ManServants is expected to launch this fall. Check out their video:
SEE ALSO: This Man Demanded An iPhone 6 As Dowry For Marrying Off His Sister
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The long-running Blackberry/Porsche hookup has just pumped another device onto the BB10 landfill, with the release of the catchily-named P'9983, which is like a regular BlackBerry, but with a Porsche logo and slightly more angles.
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-- For more information read the original article here.
Here's a new feature of iOS 8 that we weren't expecting: Apple announced tonight that the new software makes it impossible for Apple to turn over the data on an iOS 8-equipped iPhone or iPad to U.S. law enforcement, even in the presence of a search warrant. Chalk one up for privacy.
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-- For more information read the original article here.
By this point, everyone and their internet-connected dog seems to know that you can access US Netflix (and its sweet promised land of rich video content) from abroad using a simple VPN , or even just a Chrome extension. Your streaming days might be limited, however: Netflix is reportedly under fire to shut the loophole down.
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-- For more information read the original article here.
-- For more information read the original article here.
Buying rides to space isn't anything new now — in fact, flying in something so old-fashioned as a 'capsule' on a 'rocket' is probably a little passé. But that hasn't stopped Boeing from sticking a tourist seat into its new NASA-funded spacecraft.
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-- For more information read the original article here.
Amazon has paid $4.6 million for exclusive use of the .buy domain name, beating Google and other internet giants in a domain auction.
Domain Name Wire reports, via The Next Web, that on Sept. 17, ICANN, the organization that controls the world's domain names, held an auction to sell four hotly contested domains: .buy, .tech, .vip and .信息 ("Information" in Mandarin).
Companies looking to buy exclusive use of a new domain have to pledge to pay escalating amounts in order to progress through the rounds of an ICANN auction. Amazon won the right to use the .buy domain name after Google bowed out of the auction.
Google was also hoping to snap up the .vip domain name, but again it was outbid. Ireland-based domain reseller Minds + Machines bought .vip for just over $3 million.
SEE ALSO: A Security Flaw In Amazon's Kindle Library Could Allow Anyone To Take Control Of Your Account
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Image credit: @beth_blanchard
One photo taken by Guardian Australia writer Bethanie Blanchard shows many customers lining up outside the Apple Store Doncaster, as the line is said to have started at 6 AM and stretches around the entire length of the shopping center.
Image credit: @rodgerrodger Meanwhile, a photo shared by Twitter user @rodgerodger shows the line surrounding an Apple Store in Brisbane. The image shows numerous customers setting up chairs and laying down supplies in preparation to stay the night ahead of the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the morning.
In addition to Australia, Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the UK starting Friday, with Apple Retail Stores beginning sales at 8 AM. The company is also implementing a reservation pass system at its retail stores for those who line up, which will keep track of the line position of each customer and ensure that those waiting receive a device.
The first batch of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus pre-orders will also be delivered starting this Friday, as some devices have already begun shipping to customers. Shipping estimates for new iPhone 6 pre-orders remain at 7 to 10 days, while estimates for iPhone 6 Plus pre-orders are at 3 to 4 weeks. Apple announced this past Monday that it processed more than four million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus pre-orders during the first day of its pre-launch sales on September 12.
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