Lego Robots Are Finally Here Lego robots have just hit the market at CES 2017. Led by Lego Boost, a creative toolbox of Lego robots, this whole new concept has gone mainstream and is poised to take over the toy industry. This new Lego robot takes the Lego education to the next level, enabling kids and adults alike to bring blocks and pieces to life. However, Lego Boost is much more than just a kit for building Lego robots....

The idea is that, more and more, the physical and the digital worlds become one, through devices that communicate with each other, data centers, and their respective “clouds”. However, most of the time, each device in IoT comes with its own system, making it very hard to automate and connect them with each other. Now, there is a company aiming to change that and, potentially, revolutionize the IoT industry: Litbit....

Google exists to suck up information. They have tons of data-collection methods—cookies, forms, click tracking, and web beacons, to name four—and all their revenue depends on the data they have. But somehow, facial recognition is too evil for them. Well, get ready for that face-matching dystopia of the future, because it’s already a reality in Russia. Writing for The Atlantic, Jonathon Frankle has the lowdown on a new app, FaceFind....

In order to go against this, the South Korean company Olive Union decided to develop a better and affordable hearing aid accessible to everyone. In order to do so, they resorted to crowdfunding, launching an Indiegogo campaign that was successfully funded in just a few days. This company believes that, while 95% of hearing loss patients can be successfully treated with hearing aids, only 22% currently use them, due to persisting barriers, including high cost (most range from $2,000 up), limited access, and the stigma associated with wearing a visible hearing aid, even though they became increasingly smaller over time....

The news hints that there has been little improvement to the economic conditions of the summer, when tech companies like Coinbase rescinded job offers and others, like Shopify-backed delivery company Swyft, laid off a third of its workforce. Canceled jobs, hiring freezes, and layoffs are all tragic fragments of a new age of job and even pre-job insecurity. Tech Workers Left Out in The Cold According to several reports, Meta recruiters have been contacting employees about taking up roles at the company to inform them they’re no longer needed....

Western social media companies and China have never been a great mix, with a wide range of regulations getting in the way of the industry’s admittedly unregulated way of doing things. Most have even been banned from general use in the country. Microsoft is the latest company to be forced to make changes, with plans to shut down LinkedIn in favor of a non-social media-focused option announced today. Chinese job searchers won’t be without some help though....

Helps Finish Tough Tasks On-Time Tasks that involve a lot of analysis and concentration always take time to complete. When you listen to music, the brain cells gets activated. Other thoughts are suppressed. Your brain’s focus is split between your ears and eyes. Your brain registers your work at hand and the music in your ears. When a tough job is presented to someone, he goes through a moment of uncertainty and sometimes it can even bring down his overall mood....

What this company does is help car dealers sell used cars before they even arrive on the lot. They do this by aggregating the inventory at car auctions, where dealers usually buy cars, and market the vehicles on the dealer’s site before they’ve been purchased and transported. According to Andre Pak, investor relations expert at MyDealerOnline, 76 percent of people looking to buy a car, start their search online. MyDealerOnline solves this problem and helps out these dealers in a unique way....

And his own form of media it is. At times Trump’s tweets contradict that of official White House statements, add color to his thoughts on news reports, and at times slightly exaggerate things, but ultimately it’s a platform that allows him to say exactly what is on his mind. In response, typically his tweets are also met with tweetstorms with opposing views, but ultimately there is not much as far as action that comes from it....

There are plenty of valid reasons to track an employee’s vehicle: Any industry with fleet operation like a construction, HVAC or delivery service can become a lot more efficient with a fleet management system that updates in real time. But at the same time, employees deserve to know what data about them their employer is running a business with. This new law may only be in one state, but it highlights the importance of transparency through the one method that makes everyone listen: Hefty fines....

Traditionally caught between business enterprise technology and consumer products, small businesses may actually be hurting their business (and bottom line) by not using services specifically designed for their unique needs. That’s why it’s the perfect time for small businesses to look at the technology and services they’re currently using (and their associated expenses) and make sure they’re getting the most out of their current solutions. By researching new affordable technology options, small businesses can maximize returns and streamline operations by working smarter, not harder with the status quo....

This marks the first international expansion of PayPal’s cryptocurrency feature, which first launched in October 2020 and has been only available in the US up until now. It’s also just the latest sign that the tech world’s love affair with cryptocurrencies — and the blockchain technology that powers them — is continuing to grow. Bitcoin on PayPal PayPal’s crypto features cover the most popular forms of the decentralized currency, from bitcoin to Ethereum, while also allowing users to view real-time crypto valuations and get other educational content....

Unsurprisingly, everyone overwhelmingly prefers Facebook – 73% of Latinos, 67% of blacks, and 71% of whites have an account. Beyond that, social media use seems to differ quite a bit among different races: Pinterest: 32% of white Internet users are on Pinterest, compared to 21% of Latinos and 12% of blacks. Instagram: Instagram is more popular among blacks (38%) and Latinos (34%), and less so among white people (21%). Twitter: Twitter is most popular among blacks (27%), then Latinos (25%), then white people (21%)....

Elizabeth McVay Greene, the product of a strong agricultural upbringing, wanted to create a digital exchange for the agriculture sector with Plovgh. Dedicated to eliminating intermediaries in the agriculture sector, it gives farmers the opportunity to reach customers directly. In other words, consumers can now interact directly with farmers through Plovgh and shake the hand of the people who grow their food and feed them. Michael Pollan would be impressed....

Do you trust my taste when it comes to film? How about a stranger ? This is the problem the team behind Review Ringer aims to solve: irrelevant reviews by complete strangers. It was created by a team of South Florida developers to provide users with movie reviews filtered by people that share similar taste in movies. “About two years ago, we kept thinking, ‘what do we care if 51 percent of the population likes a movie?...

But wait. There’s more. Riffsy offers a keyboard app that makes it possible to insert animated GIFs into just about any conversation (text, Twitter, Facebook, other messaging apps.) Since launching the keyboard app six weeks ago, the company says they have amassed over 500 million GIF views and more than a million app downloads. In proper order, the company announced today that they have raised $3.5 million in seed funding from Redpoint Ventures (Secret, RelateIQ, HomeJoy, Twilio, Stripe, Path), Initial Capital, and John Riccitiello....

While Samsung wasn’t the first to unveil its folding phone, it was arguably the first brand of note. But, in the days that followed its announcement, many other manufacturers have revealed their own innovative mobile tech, including Huawei and Xiaomi. The two new proposed phones reportedly both offer a different approach to the folding phone, and could well appeal to different markets. What do we Know About the Samsung Folding Phones?...

Washingtonians can now log onto Seva Call and submit a request for an accountant, real estate agent, computer repairmen, mover, or other professional. Based on ratings, call analytics, and other feedback, you get matched with up to 3 local businesses, who will call you (often) within 1.5 minutes. The service is made by Seva Search (seva means “service” in Sanskrit), which raised $1.3 million last year from DC-area investors. According to president and COO Manpreet Singh, West Coast investors had showed interest, on the condition that the company move across the country....

Today, marketers are constantly customizing offers for target segments of the market. Most companies have large amounts of data on their own customers and often have to seek the help of big data companies to find segments to customize an offer. The solution here is not simple. Marketers send out coupon codes, use email marketing, direct mail, or advertisements providing a coupon code or a specific URL for customers to redeem the offer....

Even if you use Snapchat regularly, there’s a good chance you have no idea what a Snapstreak is. While the app remains incredibly popular, with 173 million daily users around the world, the intricacies of Snapchat are expansive to say the least. So, for those of you unaware of what a Snapstreak is, here is your moment: Snapstreaks are the small tickers that keeps track of how many days in a row you’ve sent a message to a friend on Snapchat....