Electronics

Nest’s thermostat and Protect smoke detector may help automate your home, but they haven’t actually talked directly to home automation systems so far — a bit of a discrepancy, don’t you think? All should be well now, though, since the Works with Nest program has just expanded to support the whole-home automation gear from Control4, Continue Reading →

As Apple prepares to unveil the iPhone 6 on Sept. 9, engineers are toiling in secrecy to make sure everything works properly. Their task won’t end when the phone goes on sale. As customers line up to buy the device around the world, Apple employees will show up at work to learn how they screwed Continue Reading →

Many companies keep prices low to attract the mass market. Others, like Daqri, opt to court a select audience willing to pay for special features. The Los Angeles-based startup is betting that industrial employers will spend substantial money on an unusual high-tech helmet designed to help blue-collar workers do their jobs. Daqri’s Smart Helmet looks Continue Reading →

Apple’s upcoming wearable device, based on iOS, will run third-party applications and, furthermore, may come equipped with an App Store, according to two sources with knowledge of the new device. It is currently unclear if the App Store will be full-fledged, like on the iPhone and iPad, or if it will be a special section Continue Reading →

Cricket Wireless will start selling its wares in nearly 3,000 GameStop stores across the country as parent company AT&T continues to take the prepaid cellular brand nationwide. “Our mission here is all about growth,” Cricket President Jennifer Van Buskirk said in an interview, noting that the company now has roughly 3,000 of its own stores Continue Reading →

Open Garden launched at TechCrunch Disrupt NY more than two years ago. At that time, the company was focused on building a mesh network for Android phones, but since then, it has also found success through its FireChat app for offline chatting. Now, the company is expanding into the Internet of Things. Open Garden’s Mobile Continue Reading →

Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Gear VR headset will cost $199, a Samsung spokesperson at New York Fashion Week told VentureBeat on Friday. Two days earlier, Samsung unveiled the Gear VR, a virtual reality headset made in partnership with Oculus VR. The device, which uses Samsung’s Note 4 phablet as a screen, was announced without a price Continue Reading →

General Motors will introduce in two years its first car that can communicate with other vehicles to help avoid accidents and ease traffic congestion, Chief Executive Mary Barra said on Sunday. In the same time frame, GM also will introduce more advanced technology allowing hands-free driving in some cases, she said. “I’m convinced customers will Continue Reading →

The “Internet of Things,” which refers to the billions of devices that are expected to be connected to each other and to the Internet, is a catchphrase that’s hard to escape these days. Even network storage maker Cisco has predicted some 25 billion devices will be connected by 2015, and 50 billion by 2020. But Continue Reading →

Running out of room on your DVR sucks, no doubt. Is it enough of a problem for you to throw $5,000 at it? For most people, the answer is no, but in case it’s a real issue you need to remedy, the new TiVo Mega should alleviate all of your first-world concerns. This huge, server-sized Continue Reading →