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Amazon.com knows you so well it wants to ship your next package before you order it. The Seattle retailer in December gained a patent for what it calls “anticipatory shipping,” a method to start delivering packages even before customers click “buy.” The technique could cut delivery time and discourage consumers from visiting physical stores. In Continue Reading →

A clear, bandage-like sensor could eventually make everything from fabrics to our fingers smart. Dr. Yong Zhu and a team of North Carolina State University researchers created an ultra-thin, flexible sensor that could be used in clothing, on the body, any in other ordinary objects to track things like strain, pressure, human touch, and bioelectronic Continue Reading →

Following tests of Twitter-style Trending Topics on the web and mobile in August, Facebook on Thursday officially launches a redesigned “Trending” section on its web homepage’s sidebar in the US, UK, Canada, India and Australia. The richer design shows personalized lists of the most mentioned words and phrases of the moment with short explanations of Continue Reading →

When it comes down to it, running a campaign on a crowdfunding platform like Kickstarter comes down to persuasion. Think about it: the success of any project is predicated on people (sometimes friends, but often total strangers) believing in a products months, even years before it’s destined to be finished. On a time limit. But Continue Reading →

Another step for Bitcoin entering mainstream commerce and consciousness. The Sacramento Kings basketball team has started to let fans pay for tickets and merchandise using the cryptocurrency — becoming the first professional sports team to hop on the Bitcoin bandwagon. People who visit the Kings’ physical retail store in Sacramento can already go in and Continue Reading →

The National Security Agency has collected almost 200 million text messages a day from across the globe, using them to extract data including location, contact networks and credit card details, according to top-secret documents. The untargeted collection and storage of SMS messages – including their contacts – is revealed in a joint investigation between the Continue Reading →

The federal government’s HealthCare.gov website continues to be riddled with flaws that expose confidential user data to the public, a security expert testified Thursday at a hearing on Capitol Hill. David Kennedy, founder of security firm TrustedSec, told members of the House of Representatives Science Committee that only one of 18 issues he reported in Continue Reading →

Middle and High School astronomy courses rely on visualization, particularly when it comes to seeing the “images” in constellations and orbital trajectories. This five app bunch is perfect for students who want to more clearly see the planets and stars, as well as learn the history, present and future of space programs. Gravity App ($7.99 iPad) Continue Reading →

Spotify’s advertising engine and paid customer conversion funnel are finally working well enough that on Thursday it eliminated all limits on free, ad-supported web listening in all countries. It’s an important milestone for the scalability and sustainability of Spotify’s business that contrasts with other streaming music services like Ex.fm and Rdio that are stumbling or Continue Reading →

According to a new report from Macquarie Capital, marketplace giant eBay is set to launch a new vertical this spring called The Plaza on eBay that will focus on direct-to-consumer sales. As Macquarie analyst Ben Schachter notes in a report, details are sparse, but Plaza has been compared to Alibaba’s Tmall. One retailer with knowledge Continue Reading →