Clik here to view.
Microsoft Promotes A Woman To Oversee Xbox And Sexist Gamer Backlash Ensues
The four women who were promoted--Amy Hood, Julie Larson-Green, Lisa Brummel, and Tami Reller--are now in four of Microsoft's 13 Executive Vice President positions. The move has already garnered some...
View ArticleClik here to view.
This Hand-Coded Algorithm Makes A Camera App Four Times Faster Than Apple's Own
On the face of it SnappyCam, a $1 iOS app, is like many similar "continuous shooting" apps that try to emulate the ultra-rapid frame capture sequence that happens when you hold down the shutter on a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Top 11 Hottest GitHub Projects Right Now
GitHub hosts millions of repositories in a plethora of languages. We decided to put together a list of the highest-velocity, most popular projects--a charge that was harder than we anticipated. GitHub...
View ArticleHow Do Audio Maestros Engineer Video Game Music?
Not content with sold-out symphony halls and packed panels at gaming conventions, video game music is getting a convention of its own. It’s called Game Music Connect and it’s hitting London on...
View ArticleScrew Chromecast and AirPlay, We Need An Open Standard For Device-To-TV
My mom is pretty jazzed about the Chromecast. When I showed my favorite 71-year-old how to beam Netflix to her TV using Google's new mobile-to-TV streaming dongle, she was delighted--even as someone...
View ArticleiPhone 5 Malware Can Infect Your Phone From A Source You’d Never Expect
Unlock your plugged-in iPhone for just a moment and your charger has full access to pretty much anything--which might be a problem if you run across a Malware-infecting charger like one built by the...
View ArticleThe Importance Of An API (Or Why Nobody Cares About Rhapsody)
Remember Rhapsody, that service that pioneered streaming music back when you still had to explain what “streaming music” was to your Luddite friends? Sure, Rhapsody still gets mentioned in music app...
View ArticleClik here to view.
8 Master Apple Developers--And They’re All Women
Lisa BettanyMale or female, some developers are just more visible and well known than others and Lisa Bettany is definitely one of the more well-known ones. Her name has become closely tied to her iOS...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Computing’s 11 Smartest Super-Viruses--And The Damage They Wrought
The Morris Virus (1988)Robert Morris's worm infected 10% of computers online at the time--around 6,000 machines. Morris built the virus to test the size of the Internet, when he was a grad student at...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wearable Tech, Payments, Watches...Why Apple Bought Passif
Over the years Apple has bought a number of smaller companies whose expertise covers different areas in semiconductor manufacturing, including spending about $280 million on PA Semi--a fabless company...
View ArticleWhat To Think About When You Choose A Blog Tool
When startup prince Marco Arment tweeted out a clarion call for writers to break their blog free of oppressive content hosting sites, he was keying into the eternal blogger quest to maximize freedom...
View ArticleWhy You Should Be Your Own Platform
Well-known iOS developer Marco Arment recently tweeted: “Writers: You don’t need Medium. You can host your own blog on your own domain with lots of other tools and hosts. Be your own “platform.”...
View ArticleIt’s Time For Apple To Start Manufacturing Bluetooth Headsets Again
As interesting as the iWatch rumors is the hope that with it will come a re-invention of the wireless headphone. A wireless display on your wrist would almost certainly beg an Apple-made new wireless...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Adding This Kind Of Skeuomorphism To Your App Could Make You More Money
E-commerce companies are on a constant quest to reduce the friction between shopping and buying online. And you don’t need analytics to tell you that entering credit card information is the part that...
View ArticleEmotion-Sniffing Is The Next Bizarre Trick Your Phone Is Learning
Rice University scientists, working with Microsoft Research, have created something rather surprising--a long-term-mood detecting device that can ascertain a user's emotions with up to 93% accuracy....
View ArticleTime Matters To Your Startup--But Not The Way You Think
This is where FastCo.Labs editors and reporters take apart a blog post we think needs to be disassembled and talked about. We cite evidence to backup what we say here--although obviously our opinions...
View ArticleThe One Thing We All Thought Un-Hackable Has Just Been Hacked
With a little bit of clever coding, every physical key you own can actually be copied without your knowledge. In fact, one of the world’s most secure keys became little more than a speed bump to a duo...
View ArticleCan This Space-Faring Japanese Robot Have A Soul?
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata will ascend to the International Space Station in November and find a friendly face from his home country waiting. Kirobo, the first talking robot in space, will...
View ArticleThree Long-Winded (But Useful) Suggestions From Our Readers
Last week we asked readers to be our Labs Rats and subject themselves to a reader survey. Knowing that surveys don’t exactly nourish the human soul, we also put out the call for free-form qualitative...
View ArticleWith 3-D-Printed Metal, Robust Homemade Firearms Are Becoming Reality
If you thought the whole 3-D-printed gun thing got contentious earlier this year, just wait. The next generation of 3-D-printed guns will be easier to produce, sturdier, and unlike the firearms that...
View Article