Google buying Fitbit is good for Google, bad for wearables

We only have rumors about a sale so far, and the companies have already issued the usual "no comment." But that doesn't mean we can't speculate about how a deal would work and what it might do to the wearables industry. And while Fitbit might need a bailout, and Google might need to bolster its…

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The Moto 360 smartwatch is back, but Motorola isn’t making it

In the same nostalgic vein as HMD's revival of the Nokia, or TCL bringing back the BlackBerry, the Moto 360 has been given a contemporary makeover and is being brought back to the masses. This time around it'll feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform, 8GB of storage and 1GB RAM, an always-on display and…

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Amazon Fresh deliveries are now free for Prime members

Amazon has been experimenting with its Amazon Fresh pricing for a while now. Initially costing $99 a year plus delivery fees, and then $299 a year including delivery fees, the service has been charged at $14.99 a month since 2016. Bundling it in with Prime represents pretty good value, then.It's likely that Amazon will lose…

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Ants Never Get Stuck in Traffic Jams. Here’s Why

Ants are notoriously much better than humans at organizing their collective traffic flow when foraging for food, but how they manage to do so isn't fully understood. Even in dense, crowded conditions, ant colonies still manage to maintain a smooth and efficient traffic flow, primarily by adjusting their behavior to adapt to changing circumstances, according…

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The Empty Innovation of Kanye West’s Gospel Album

Late one night last month, in anticipation of Kanye West’s ninth major-label release, which was reportedly due in just a few hours (it was ultimately stalled by delays, and didn’t arrive until last Friday), Twitter user @FrankieComedian posted an image to his timeline. “Me waiting for Kanye West’s album,” he wrote, adding the hashtag #jesusisking,…

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Welcome to Year 50 of the Information Age

“Lo.” That was the first message to cross the internet, in 1969, sent from a router at UCLA to one at Menlo Park. And behold! Here we are. Year 50 of the information age, when nearly every human (and an increasing number of otherwise inanimate objects) live, willingly or not, simultaneously, in physical space—IRL—and a…

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Huawei’s Gear Might Have to Go, FCC Tells US Telecom Firms

The US government is taking more steps to block Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE from American networks.The Federal Communications Commission proposed two measures this week to stop US carriers from using technology from the two companies. The first would ban carriers from using money from the Universal Service Fund, an FCC-managed program that offers…

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Hellvetica Puts a Spooky Twist on the World’s Most Popular Font

Zack Roif was having a perfectly normal day at work last Friday when he opened an email invitation to the office Halloween party. The theme: Hellvetica, the world’s most ubiquitous font turned evil. Roif, who is an associate creative director at RGA, an ad agency in New York, appreciated the humor. Then he wondered if he could turn…

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Shifting Winds and the Changing Shape of California Fires

Californians fight flames on multiple fronts during wildfire season, but the real enemy is the wind. In the southern part of the state they’re called Santa Anas; in the north, Diablos. Sometimes gusting as hard as a hurricane’s gale, the winds are what turn California’s desiccated autumns into pyrocenic months of smoky skies, electrical blackouts,…

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Leaving ‘Star Wars’ Is the Smartest Thing the ‘Game of Thrones’ Showrunneers Ever Did

The headline shouted that it was a “shocker.” Last night, The Hollywood Reporter posted a story revealing that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the creators behind the Game of Thrones television adaptation, were ending their creative partnership with Lucasfilm—effective immediately. A year and half ago, the studio announced it had asked the pair to create…

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