Prior seasons of "Grimm," an NBC fantasy drama based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, are available Thursday on Amazon, as is USA Network's "Suits" and "Covert Affairs." NBC's "Hannibal" psychological thriller will be available later this year, and Syfy's "Defiance" will be available early next year. USA Networks and Syfy are both owned by NBCUniversal.
All previous seasons are exclusive to Amazon, and Prime … Read more
Groupon is not racing to find a new CEO, say the interim leaders who've been running the show since the company's founder resigned earlier this year.
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Tuesday, Groupon's interim CEOs Ted Leonsis and Eric Lefkosky said that "are not in a rush" to name a new, permanent chief executive, adding that they have only just kicked off the process of finding a replacement.
"We want to bring in a world-class leader, but the talent pool is not huge," Leonsis told the Journal. &… Read more
SAN FRANCISCO--Google Maps began as roads and satellite photos. Now, through a project called Ground Truth, it's becoming an ever more sophisticated virtual mirror of the real world.
But how? Google engineers described their methods Wednesday at the Google I/O show, describing how they've moved from licensing satellite photos to building 3D version of the world that can be updated in minutes.
The answer might surprise close Google watchers accustomed to the company's heavily automated, algorithmic, computer-centric way of doing things. There's plenty of that, but it also takes lots of elbow grease, said Michael … Read more
SAN FRANCISCO -- Larry Page spoke softly from the stage at the Moscone Center West on Wednesday morning, but the carrot he dangled in front of developers was accompanied by the big stick he brandished against his competition.
Page let his company do the heavy lifting of going after rivals with major product updates. Changes to Google+ aimed aggressive shots at Facebook and Skype. An overhaul to Google Maps pushed it far beyond what the nearest competition from Bing can bring. Meanwhile, the new streaming music service Google Music All Access served up scorching features that could undermine the very … Read more
SAN FRANCISCO--Parties can say a lot about the companies that hold them.
So it was with Google I/O Wednesday night at the Moscone Center West here. Classic rocker Billy Idol was the headliner, jumping around the stage shirtless, and a profanity-prone DJ caught some attention afterward, but the audience paid just about as much attention to the multitude of robot exhibits.
There were robots you could train to pick up jars, robot bartenders, life-size Rock-em Sock-em robots in a boxing ring, and remote-control robots people could ride around on.
Best of all was a giant hydraulic arm that would … Read more
It's more enjoyable when sense doesn't prevail.
It allows for so much more humor and head-shaking.
However, Kiera Wilmot has probably shaken her head enough lately and will now be grateful for a little stillness.
Should you have been unaccountably arrested for expectorating in your high school cafeteria recently, you might not have heard about Wilmot.
One morning at Bartow High School in Florida, she put toilet cleaner and aluminum foil in a water bottle to see what might happen. It was just, she said, an experiment.
Even her school principal admitted that it merely sounded like a … Read more
Google's Play Books service got an update Wednesday that allows users to upload e-books or other documents to the cloud to create an online library that can be shared with a variety of the devices.
Updates to the Android and iOS versions of the e-reader app will allow users to upload up to 1,000 PDF and EPUB files to their Google Play locker. Files can be uploaded from userss computers or imported from Google Drive, as long as the files are less than 50MB in size.
Once uploaded to the library, the files will be readable on the … Read more
TiVo's iPad app is already known for being quite in-depth with a remote control, ways to schedule recordings, and program guides, but the company announced Wednesday that it's rolling out yet another significant feature -- content "feeds."
Starting Thursday, with an app update, users will see a revamp of the TiVo app dubbed "What to Watch Now." This feature has six content feeds that are categorized by genre; the feeds are filled with tailored recommendations based on users' preferences and geographic location.
The feeds come in several categories, including popular on TV, sports on … Read more
The Bahraini government started the process of revising its penal code last month to allow officials to jail anyone who insults King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, according to Amnesty International.
It appears that the government is now taking action.
Six people were sentenced to one year in prison on Wednesday for allegedly insulting the King on Twitter, according to Al Jazeera.
The criminal court ruled that these people were "misusing the right of free expression" and their tweets were "undermining the values and traditions of Bahrain's society towards the king on Twitter."
Bahrain, which … Read more
SAN FRANCISCO--Google Wallet is growing up and it's not just about paying for stuff by tapping your phone anymore.
On Wednesday, the company made three announcements at its Google I/O developer conference with regard to Google Wallet that take the service well beyond specialized tap and go technology to make Google Wallet more usable on the Web.
"We are not pulling away from NFC," Peter Hazlehurst, director of product management for Google Wallet said in an interview. "We are simply making a much richer Wallet experience. There are still places where NFC can't be … Read more
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Christina Milian and the gadgets she loves
Apple Accessories, now at Staples