Earlier this summer, we showed you a smart kitchen scale that worked with an iPad app to make sure you were adding the right amount of each ingredient to your recipe. At the time, it seemed like the Internet of Things had reached its peak. Jumped the...
The lithium ion batteries in your mobile devices are inherently limited by the "ion" part of their name; they can safely use lithium only in the part of the cell that supplies ions, wasting a lot of potential energy. It's good news, then, that...
Solar power cells need to stay relatively cool for the sake of both efficiency and longevity, but active cooling (like ventilation) isn't practical; it's expensive, and may block the very rays the cells are supposed to collect. To tackle this...
If you've spent time on a beach without protection, you probably have a good idea of just how damaging the sun can be. That gigantic star that gives us life from millions of miles away can also do great harm, as Earth nearly discovered during a...
Quantum computing -- it's a term we're hearing more and more, as companies such as D-Wave build their own early versions of super-machines. Microsoft, naturally, is investing considerable resources in the field as well; its Station Q research lab in...
You may think that the 3GB of memory in your new smartphone is hot stuff, but that pales in comparison with what Rice University has in store. Its scientists have detailed a form of resistive RAM (RRAM) that can be made using regular equipment at...
The rumor is that eventually we're going to see Google Voice merged completely into Hangouts, and that's getting even closer to becoming reality. You can now make phone calls via Hangouts directly from the Google Voice website, no Google+ necessary....
After teasing us with a possible launch, Amazon has confirmed Kindle Unlimited, its all-you-can-read e-book subscription service. For $9.99 per month, Kindle Unlimited offers 600,000 books and "thousands" of audiobooks across a range of devices. As...
Most teenagers would probably tell you that they'd die if you took away nonverbal communication, but one subset of our population actually could: scuba divers. They can't exactly send texts via smartphone to one another because saltwater, and water...
Thermoelectrics -- which use wasted heat to generate electricity -- could get a lot more interesting thanks to a company called Alphabet Energy. It's set to commercialize tetrahedrite, a metal that more than doubles the efficiency of current tech for...
One of the drawbacks inherent with our variety of smart devices is short battery life, but the folks behind the InkCase Plus think they have the solution for perhaps the most-used gadget in your arsenal: your phone. The InkCase Plus hits Kickstarter...
Sure, our homes are getting smarter and allowing us to be greener than before, but the cost of energy has continued to climb. Energy companies have encouraged us keep tabs on our consumption, but it's hard to identify which appliances are responsible...
A coder/activist is trying to walk a fine line with his encryption program called MiniLock, according to Wired. On the one hand, Nadim Kobeissi has developed a simple drag-and-drop interface for the browser plugin to make it accessible to all. But...
Who says VR needs to be experienced in the first-person? Using a stereo pair of GoPro cameras, mounted to a tall antenna carried in a backpack, some obscenely intelligent makers in Poland have discovered that it's possible to enjoy an Oculus Rift...
For the last year or so, Samsung has been touting a "paradigm shift" in the way it constructs flash memory: from a horizontal to a vertical arrangement of cells, or what it calls 3D V-NAND. Now, judging from reviews of the first V-NAND consumer SSDs,...
Many smartphone-controlled light bulbs cost a pretty penny, even if you're not interested in mood-setting colors or other elaborate tricks. How are you supposed to afford enough bulbs to illuminate your entire abode? That's where GE's new Link bulbs...