News you need to know
Google's modular smartphone is almost done, test program will launch in Puerto Rico
Remember Google's futuristic modular smartphone where you can replace the parts? Project Ara is moving forward in huge leaps and is almost a reality now; the company showed off an update on the platform -- along with real hardware -- and shared that it plans to launch it in Puerto Rico later this year as a test.
It'll be interesting to see if people actually want to replace bits or find it to be too much hassle.
Obama's Proposed Hacking Law Could Make You a Criminal
Next week, Obama is unveiling a proposed update to US hacking laws that could cause anyone who accidentally found themselves looking at leaked data online to be a criminal. The new law has vague, overreaching language that means even hanging around with someone that's discussing leaked data could cause you to be raided by the FBI. A scary future, if this were to pass. This piece is by me.
Xiaomi Announces its New Flagship Smartphone, The Mi Note
You might not have heard of Xiaomi (pronounced "show-mee") before, but it's a juggernaut in China and is now the world's third-largest smartphone manufacturer. Not only is Samsung struggling against the company in China, Apple is too. Xiaomi has seen explosive growth over the last year.
Xiaomi's latest phone -- the Mi Note -- is a competitor for the iPhone 6 Plus and the Galaxy Note 4; the phone looks like what I'd imagine if Apple and Samsung worked together on something. The Mi Note is a formidable competitor and shows that the company is better at producing a high-end smartphone better than Samsung ever could.
Google's new translation app can translate voice and text in real time
Google released an update to its translate app this week that allows you to do voice translation between languages in near real-time, along with the ability to point it at written foreign languages and receive inline translations.
This is one of those wow moments in technology where it feels like a glimpse into a future where language isn't a barrier.
Google Glass sales halted but it says the product isn't dead
This week, we found out Google is going to kill the Glass Explorer program and halt sales of its current product, but has moved the Glass division out of the experiments lab into a real product team. This means that Glass isn't actually dead, but Google is getting serious about building something it can actually sell to consumers, without the negative connotations.
Must reads
But Where Do People Work in This Office?
"With everything we know about open plan offices, why are these mega-rich companies knocking themselves out to hire the very best and brightest minds from the world’s best universities, paying them huge salaries, tapping world-class architects to design artisanal office spaces in the most expensive place in the country, and then cramming desks together in noisy bullpens?"
AI Has Arrived, and That Really Worries the World's Brightest Minds
Artificial Intelligence is actually here, even if you don't quite realize it. AI is everywhere from Skype doing real-time language translation to the self-driving cars that Google is building. Elon Musk is pretty concerned about where AI could take us, so has pledged $10 million to ensuring it's correctly researched.
5,200 Days in Space
An incredible look at why staying in space is important, what it's like for astronauts and what we learn by having people stay in space for extended periods of time.
The Town Without Wi-Fi
The residents of this town in a remote area of the USA aren't allowed to use cell phones, wi-fi or any other wireless technology thanks to a high-tech government telescope. It's made the town popular with technophobes, but the locals don't like that much at all.
Trending Products
Mixmax Takes Sending Email With Gmail to the Next Level
This handy extension to Gmail brings a whole bunch of extra features that the service should have. You can track if your recipients have opened your emails, offer when you're available for meetings, automatically generate previews for pasted links and more. Really cool little service that makes sending email just that little bit nicer.
The Productivity Pack
Get a year premium subscription to Evernote, Wunderlist, Pocket and LastPass for just $60; this is a great deal if you use these services and have considered upgrading to the paid version previously. It's only available for a short time, so get in quickly.
The Final Word
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