Davemichels

Aumi Mini is a new project on Kickstarter from the creator of Aumi, a Bluetooth nightlight which was funded on Kickstarter in 2015 and shipped to backers this year. The new Mini model is way more ambitious, however. It's a USB-powered nightlight that connects to your Wi-Fi, and includes IFTTT support for getting into all sorts of automated shenanigans.

The exact sort internet events you'd like a nightlight to inform you of is, of course, entirely up to you. A few examples offered by Aumi include weather alerts, Wi-Fi-is-down notifications, and and smart home integration. Personally I'd like to use one to keep track of my unread emails. A light that will never fade.

The nightlight can also trigger its own events based on the built-in...

Continue reading…

People who love cars — people who really, really love cars — have a language all their own.

We call these people "gearheads" ("petrol heads" in the UK), and while we are sometime among their numbers, more often we are listening to their secret lingo and saying "Wha?"

The words and phrases all sound cool, and maybe a tad offputting. But with a bit of study, you too can soon be speaking fluent gearhead.

Read on.

SEE ALSO: Follow this simple guide to make changing a tire much easier

Torque

A lot of folks understand horsepower as being a measure of how much energy an engine can output. "Torque," on the other hand, is far less well-understood.

It's essentially the amount of rotation that a given amount of power can generate. This is an important concept, because car engines take power that is moving up and down in combustion cylinder and transfer it to the drive wheels.

Gearheads love to talk torque because it's the physical factor that makes cars go fast, beyond just pure horsepower. Torque is also delivered at different points as a car accelerates, so heavy gearheads can debate where a car's sweetspot is.

For electric cars, torque is also an important concept, but for different reasons. Electric motors deliver 100% of available torque at 1 rpm, which is why a Tesla Model S with "Ludicrous Mode" can outrun some supercars from 0-60 mph. 

Banger

Internal-combustion engines have cylinders. The controlled explosions that create power enable pistons to move up and down in these cylinders, or combustion chambers. 

Modern IC engines have 4-, 5-, 6-, 8-, 10-, and 12-cylinder engines. The 4s, 6s, and 8s are the most most common, giving us V6s and V8s when the cylinders are arranged in a V shape with an equal number on each side; a 4-cylinder engine will usually set the cylinder up "inline" — in a straight line.

Gearheads will often call a 4- or 6-cylinder motor a "four banger" or "six banger" because the exploding gas-air mixture and pistons will "bang" in the cylinders.

Turbo lag

A turbocharger uses exhaust gases to spin a turbine that compresses the air that's fed into the cylinders.

This can increase an engine's power output, making a V6 perform like a V8.

However, unlike an un-turboed V8, which can pour on its horsepower continuously, a turbo V6 can take a few seconds to deliver its power.

Gearheads call the wait "turbo lag" and will often knock a turbo for it. But many modern turbos reduce or nearly eliminate turbo lag.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Google products are quickly becoming the go-to in many US classrooms, a new report finds.

Beating out Apple iOS and Microsoft Windows in key aspects of school computer usage, Google's Chrome OS is the preferred operating system on the majority of school desktop computers. It's also a growing mobile presence among teachers and students.

"Google's Chrome OS continues to gain overall market share in US classrooms at the expense of iOS," the report, compiled by the edtech platform Kahoot!, reads.

Mobile technology, particularly Google's tech, has been creeping into classrooms for the better part of the last decade. As personalized learning take hold — luring in teachers with the promise of giving each child a tailor-made lesson plan — tech companies are stepping in to modernize the American classroom.

Kahoot!, an educational gaming platform used by 50 million monthly users in grades K-12, includes in its new report responses from 580 US teachers, primarily from public schools, who answered questions about technology in their classrooms. Kahoot! also pulled data from student and teacher devices on the company platform.

While Apple iOS dominated mobile usage, Chrome OS was by far the prevailing platform for desktops. In the first quarter of 2017, Mac OS accounted for just 11% of operating systems, compared to 58% for Chrome OS. Windows came in second at 31%.

Likewise, Google Chromebooks outshined Apple iPads by a substantial margin. Chromebooks made up 44% of teachers' tablet use and 46% of students' use. Windows laptops ranked second among teachers, while Apple iPads ranked second among students.

In addition, Google's productivity suite — a hub for issuing assignments and giving feedback, known as Classroom — was the most widely used suite in the sample. More than half (57%) of all teachers surveyed said they use it. At 23%, Microsoft Office 365 came in second.

Sean Gaillard, principal at Lexington Middle School in Lexington, North Carolina, said the technology helps him capture and assess classroom data.

"Also, any tools that promote collaborative thinking and collaboration among teachers and students, like Google Docs, will be important in the coming year," Gaillard told Kahoot!.

SEE ALSO: Netflix's CEO backs a math education program that works like the streaming service

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's how Google Maps knows when there is traffic

T-Mobile announced earlier this year that it would begin supporting LTE-U sometime this spring, and today the company announced that it’s making good on its word, as it starts rolling out support for the new wireless standard in six cities.

If you live in Bellevue, WA; Brooklyn, NY; Dearborn, MI; Las Vegas, NV; Richardson, TX; or Simi Valley, CA and have a compatible device — which for now, is only the Samsung Galaxy S8 — you’ll be able to take advantage of the faster speeds through LTE-U.

If you need a refresher, LTE-U, or LTE-Unlicensed, is part of the LTE Advanced standard, which takes advantage of unused frequency from the 5 GHz band of spectrum (typically used by Wi-Fi routers) for faster LTE service.

In addition to the LTE-U...

Continue reading…

 Surely Box is of sufficient size with enough data running through its systems to take advantage of machine learning. Today, the company announced a deepening relationship with Microsoft in which Box will take advantage of Redmond’s pure go-to-market clout, its data centers (via Box Zones) and, yes, its AI and machine learning algorithms. Read More

Pandora cofounder and CEO Tim Westergren has stepped down, the company announced on Tuesday.

The board will begin searching for candidates to fill the position, and CFO Naveen Chopra will serve as interim CEO. Westergren, who cofounded Pandora back in 2000, will also no longer serve on Pandora's board of directors.

This news comes on the heels of a $480 million investment from Sirius XM earlier this month, which will give the satellite-radio powerhouse 19% of Pandora, in addition to three board seats. At the same time, Pandora announced it would unload Ticketfly — the ticketing startup it paid $335.3 million in stock and cash for in 2015 — to Eventbrite for $200 million.

Westergren took over the CEO role last March, mostly to guide the company's launch of its on-demand competitor to Spotify and Apple Music, which completed its rollout in April. The $9.99-a-month service, called Pandora Premium, was meant to wring money out of Pandora's massive user base in a more effective way than its ad-supported product. Grumblings are, however, that Sirius XM has little interest in this service.

Pandora's stock has been flat in premarket trading following the news.

SEE ALSO: Facebook is ready to drop up to $3 million an episode on TV-style shows

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here’s what it’s like inside St. Louis' Gateway Arch — the tallest man-made monument in the US

The two companies say they will help joint customers get a discount on cyber-security insurance premiums.

Amazon's Echo devices have a new trick: They can be used like an intercom system inside your house.

For example, you can now call the Echo Dot in your bedroom from the standard Echo in your living room. Or, you can stream video from an Echo Show in your baby's room to another Echo Show in your kitchen.

All you have to do in either case is ask Alexa, Amazon's intelligent assistant, which is built into its Echo gadgets. 

You'll be able to access the intercom feature via the Alexa smartphone and tablet app also. So, if your kids have Echos in their rooms, you use your phone to talk to them through their smart speakers, instead of yelling up the stairs at them. And, via the smartphone app, you can call them directly on their Echo speakers even when you're away from home.  

Amazon is adding the feature to its Echo devices via a free software update it's rolling out on Monday. It will be adding the feature to its Alexa smartphone and tablet app via a similar update in the coming days.

Amazon built the new intercom capability on top of its recently-launched Alexa voice-calling feature. The difference is that instead of telling Alexa to call a friend or a family member, you instruct it to call the kitchen or whichever room you have an Echo situated in.

To set up an Echo as an intercom, you have to go into the Alexa app or settings page and name it based on the room it's in. Also, within Alexa settings, you have to enable the new "drop-in" feature within your household group. The drop-in feature is what allows users of other Echo devices to automatically start chatting with you or viewing the video stream from an Echo Show device without you having to answer their call. 

SEE ALSO: REVIEW: Amazon's newest Echo speaker is not for everyone

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's how Google Maps knows when there is traffic

New Nokia phones are officially on their way back the US.

HMD Global, the Finnish company that acquired the rights to sell Nokia-branded smartphones last year, said on Monday that its Nokia 6 phone would go on sale in the US in "early July."

The phone will only be sold through Amazon, and will cost $229 to buy outright.

Here’s a rundown of the most relevant specs:

• A 5.5-inch 1080p display
• Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 430 chip
• 3 GB of RAM
• 32GB of storage, with the ability to add 128 GB more through a microSD card
• A 16-megapixel rear camera, and an 8-megapixel selfie camera
• A 3,000mAh battery

HMD Global announced its intentions to sell Nokia-branded phones in the US earlier this year. The Nokia 6 — along with its less powerful siblings, the Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 — has launched in various Asian markets already.

The Nokia 6 is a not-flashy but potentially promising mid-range device. We’ll have to test out the display and camera before making any judgments there, and the Snapdragon 430 chip isn’t as strong as the Snapdragon 625 you’d find on the Moto G5 Plus, which we consider the current top phone in this price range.

That said, the chip should be fine enough to get you through most of the essentials. More notably, HMD Global loads its Nokia phones with a near-totally clean version of Android 7 Nougat. Aside from a custom camera app and a couple tweaked icons, it has none of the add-ons that often take up space and drag down performance on other third-party Android devices. That means the phone should get more out of its hardware than usual.

HMD Global is promising faster software updates than most third-party Android devices as a result, and says it’ll stay on top of Google’s monthly security patches as well. Time will tell if that holds true.

The Nokia 6’s other selling point is its hardware. It’s not tiny, and it doesn’t have the bezel-free display of more premium phones, but it’s made of a solid, relatively clean aluminum.

The most interesting thing about the Nokia 6, however, is its branding. To be clear, this is a “Nokia” device in name only: The actual Nokia still exists, but is out of the consumer phone business after a disastrous partnership with Microsoft earlier in the decade. Along with BlackBerry, it is one of the most famous casualties of Apple and Google’s rise to dominance in the smartphone market.

HMD Global, which is headed by former Nokia execs, has steadily launched Nokia-branded phones around the world since acquiring the Nokia name last year. The idea is similar to what Chinese brand TCL has done with BlackBerry: use a once-dominant brand name to point eyeballs toward their own Android phones.

Some of those phones, like its remade Nokia 3310 feature phone, have been heavy on the nostalgia. Others, like the Nokia 6 here, look nothing like the colorful, blocky phones of Nokia Lumias past.

Either way, the phones aren’t likely to be sales smashes: The vast majority of US smartphone shoppers still buy their phones through mobile carriers, and HMD Global is sticking strictly to Amazon here. Beyond that, the phone will only work fully on T-Mobile — AT&T only has partial LTE support, and Verizon and Sprint aren’t supported whatsoever. Nevertheless, the Nokia 6 may be worth a look for Android enthusiasts on a budget.

SEE ALSO: The new BlackBerry phone brings the old-school keyboard back from the dead — here’s what it’s like

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Nokia is reportedly planning a relaunch of the iconic 3310 and people are freaking out about it

Welcome to the big show.

On June 28, Amazon will release its $229 Echo Show, the latest entry in the retail giant's line of Echo smart speakers.

Like the other Echo devices, the Echo Show is powered by the Alexa virtual assistant, which lets you use simple voice commands to get the weather, set alarms and timers, peruse the news, control smart thermostats and light bulbs, and even shop on Amazon. 

The Echo Show, however, is different in one big way: It sports a 7-inch touchscreen. To use Amazon's tagline, "now Alexa can show you things." Wisely, Amazon is hyping up the ability to use it as a video phone, but it has some other neat tricks, too. 

I've been using the Echo Show for the last several days. It's an intriguing experiment, and it'll get a lot of Alexa fans excited. But it probably isn't for everyone. 

Here's the deal with the Echo Show. 

Meet the Amazon Echo Show, which will sell for $229. It looks like a tablet mounted on a big speaker base.

Like the original Amazon Echo, pictured here, the Echo Show is powered by the Alexa voice assistant. Alexa can perform simple tasks, answer basic questions, and even control your smart-home devices, just by asking her.

The Echo Show does all of that, too. It looks like a tablet, and it does indeed have a touchscreen, but the primary way you're going to interact with the Echo Show is via voice. And you can shout commands at it across the room in the same way, too.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

For 21 days this June, the Egyptian town of Alexandria had its own leaning tower.

Appropriately dubbed the "leaning tower of Alexandria," the high-rise fell and crashed against a row of apartments on the opposite side of a narrow street on July 1. The tenants evacuated immediately, and the building's electricity and gas were cut. There were no reports of injuries.

After leaning for three weeks, the building was demolished by a team of army-led engineer, according to The Guardian. The structure became unstable when an older, neighboring building — which was several stories higher than its permit allowed — collapsed. Without the other building's support, the residential tower started to lean until it fell into the housing block across the street.

The tower has become a symbol of the growing corruption and legal loopholes in the construction industry in Egypt, where over 390 residential buildings collapse each year. The Egyptian research group Built Environment Observatory estimates that approximately 200 people die and over 800 families are made homeless from these building collapses annually.

In 2013, 24 people died and 11 others were injured when another residential building buckled in eastern Alexandria. And in October 2016, a condo building in the area was evacuated after reports of structural damage, including cracks and crumbling of some bricks. At the time, city officials said 180 condos in Alexandria have structural damage, 32 of which suffer from severe issues.

According to The Guardian, construction laws have become more lax in Alexandria in recent years. The demand for housing in Egypt has also skyrocketed, which could make renters more likely to compromise their safety for the sake of housing.

SEE ALSO: Rare footage shows what New York City looked like in 1911

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A hacker reveals the most secure thing you can do to your passwords

There's a variety of reasons why someone would prefer to ride a motorcycle — even with its inherent risks and inconveniences — over a traditional car.

However, much like the transportation industry, the term "traditional" has been redefined to include modes of transportation that don't completely rely on an internal combustion engine — you don't need to look long to spot a hybrid or electric car on the road today.

Now Zero Motorcycles, an American manufacturer that produces electric motorcycles, is putting a new battery powered ride on the road with its 2017 Zero SR.

Nestled in the mountaintops of Scotts Valley, California, is a company that's trying to revolutionize the motorcycling industry by building sport bikes that run on lithium-ion batteries. The company says the Zero SR can deliver TK miles of range, while producing 70 horsepower and 116 foot-pounds of torque at the drop of a hat.

No, that's not an exaggeration or a ringing endorsement of the SR. It's a fact. Unlike traditional motorcycle engines that require time and a suitable transmission to ride the revs in order to achieve peak torque, there's no powerband on an electric motor, so you'll have access to 100% of its power with a simple twist of the throttle.

Now, I wouldn't blame purists who stopped reading after seeing "battery-powered" and "motorcycle" in the same sentence — I had my doubts, too. Taking the SR out for a spin myself helped answer some of my questions, while also raising some new ones.

Here's our impression of the 2017 Zero SR:

SEE ALSO: The 9 best electric motorcycles you can buy

At first glance, there doesn't seem to be anything special about the SR — it more or less looks like your standard bike ...

... That is until you realize the clutch lever is missing. With no clutch and no gearbox, there's no shifting involved.

Hazard lights for safety and etched logos on the grips are also a nice touch.

Here's the belt drive system. Relatively quiet compared to its metallic predecessor, Zero claims that the SR has 116 foot-pounds of torque, more than any 1,000cc sport bike on the market.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

A huge compilation of Microsoft's proprietary Windows 10 software code has been leaked online, as originally reported by the Register.

The leak contains more than 32 terabytes of data and includes both the Windows 10 source code and other code intended only for internal use at Microsoft, the Register reported. The files, confirmed by Microsoft to be legitimate, include much of the code that Windows 10 uses to work with PC hardware, including its built-in USB, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth drivers.

Hackers and other bad actors are now free to sift through the data looking for potentially vulnerabilities they could exploit. 

The code was leaked to BetaArchive.com, a website that seeks to preserve and make public software that would otherwise never see the light of day. The leaked data appears to have been taken from Microsoft starting in March, according to the Register report. Following the release of the Register's report, a BetaArchive moderator said that the site had removed all traces of the leaked Windows code.

In a statement, Microsoft confirms the leaks are legitimate, and says that they appear to come from the Shared Source Initiative  — a program that Microsoft runs to share the Windows source code with top PC manufacturers and other partners.

"Our review confirms that these files are actually a portion of the source code from the Shared Source Initiative and is used by OEMs and partners," says a Microsoft spokesperson.

In addition to that hardware code, the leak contains numerous versions of Windows 10 that were never released outside of Microsoft's offices, the Register reported.

Read the full Register report here>>

SEE ALSO: The Windows PC is cooler than it's ever been before — here's how Microsoft made it happen

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Hands-on with Microsoft's newest laptop that's taking on Google and Apple

Microsoft first demonstrated its Whiteboard app for Windows 10 back at the company’s Surface Pro event in May. While the software maker promised it will launch later this year, an early copy of Whiteboard has leaked onto the internet today. It features many of the abilities that Microsoft demonstrated, including automatic inking to shapes and tables as well as the ability to see angles on shapes.

It appears that the Whiteboard app is targeted towards schools as this particular version is “Education Preview.” Microsoft has also included a ruler for more precise inking, and a variety of basic pens and highlighters. One of the more interesting additions is the ability to insert images from the web and automatic creation of an equation chart...

Continue reading…

Walmart has issued a warning to tech companies it does business with: don't use Amazon's cloud services.

Amazon has quickly emerged as the dominant player in cloud-based storage and computing power with its Amazon Web Services program.

Now, Walmart is turning up the heat as it aggressively invests in e-commerce.

The retailer is starting to tell technology companies it works with to stop using Amazon Web Services and move to competitors instead, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

Amazon Web Services, known in the industry as AWS, is the dominant business for hosting websites and services, with a 44% share of the market, according to Synergy Research Group.

A spokesperson for Walmart confirmed to the Journal that Walmart pushed for its tech suppliers to use competitors, stating it wants to protect sensitive company data from a major competitor.

In a statement to the Journal, an Amazon spokesperson called Walmart's tactics an attempt to "bully" tech companies into using competitors, like Microsoft's Azure.

The conflict comes at a time when Walmart and Amazon are battling for American dollars.

Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods Market will make the two almost directly competitive in the grocery business for the first time. Walmart is increasingly competitive with Amazon online as well, especially as it purchases more e-commerce companies like Jet.com, Modcloth, and Bonobos.

Jet competes with Amazon's broad retail bread and butter, while the women's fashion company Modcloth and men's clothing company Bonobos directly compete with the millennial online shoppers Amazon is trying to court with its Amazon Fashion initiative and Prime Wardrobe program.

Walmart itself prefers to use its own data centers, supplementing that with services from Amazon's emerging services competitors.

SEE ALSO: Amazon just fixed a major problem that customers hated

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Mount Everest is not the tallest mountain in the world

Each year, one song taps into the hearts and ears of the public on its way to topping the Billboard year-end song chart.

Times have changed, though.

While rap and R&B have dominated in the 2000s and 2010s, the early days of the chart saw an eclectic mix of hits at the top, including multiple entries from acts like The Beatles and Elvis Presley.

Billboard has been tracking the top song of each year since 1946. Business Insider compiled each hit below so you can see, and hear, which song was the soundtrack of your birth year (so long as you're between the ages of 1 and 71).

Check out what made it to the top of each year below:

SEE ALSO: The 50 best-selling albums of all time

2017: Ed Sheeran — "Shape of You"

Youtube Embed:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/JGwWNGJdvx8
Width: 800px
Height: 380px

2016: Justin Bieber — "Love Yourself"

Youtube Embed:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/oyEuk8j8imI
Width: 800px
Height: 380px

2015: Mark Ronson — "Uptown Funk!" (feat. Bruno Mars)

Youtube Embed:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/OPf0YbXqDm0
Width: 800px
Height: 380px

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

With its Prime Wardrobe program, Amazon has rocked yet another industry: Apparel.

Amazon moving in on the space more aggressively is “another nail into the department store coffin,” Wells Fargo analyst Ike Boruchow wrote in a note to clients.

Industry stalwarts like Macy's, Sears, and JCPenney have already struggled to adapt to growing competition from e-commerce and waning mall traffic.

Prime Wardrobe sends customers up to 15 clothing items to try on for free at home. Returns are nearly effortless, meaning Amazon has removed the greatest uncertainty of buying clothes online.

Amazon is also offering enticing promotions: the more you buy, the cheaper it is. If you buy 5 items, you get a full 20% off.  If customers choose to keep none of the items, there's no penalty and everything can be packed back into the resealable box and left on the front porch. 

"Simply put, it’s a negative," for department stores, the Wells Fargo analysts wrote in the note.

Amazon's growing apparel business is yet another blow to traditional players in the industry. The retailer is expected this year to surpass Macy's to become the biggest apparel seller in the US, according to Cowen & Co.

Amazon has a greater selection of apparel than any one department store. As it scoops up more of the brands consumers want — including luxury and designer — customers may find the convenience makes it difficult to shop anywhere else.

Just this week, reports stated that Amazon may begin selling Nike directly through its website through a deal with the sports apparel maker. Nike was one of the notable wholesale holdouts still not selling directly on Amazon, but even the largest sportswear maker in the world can't deny the allure of Amazon's younger, affluent customers.

It's not bad news for everyone in the apparel industry, however. The creation of Prime Wardrobe just creates another channel for companies creating sought-after products, looking to grow faster, like Nike, according to Wells Fargo.

SEE ALSO: Amazon just fixed a major problem that customers hated

Follow Us: On Facebook

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Mount Everest is not the tallest mountain in the world

Just a week after it started giving away a year’s worth of “unlimited” data for next to nothing, Sprint has launched more hyper-aggressive moves — this time for its prepaid brand Virgin Mobile.

Virgin Mobile on Wednesday said that, for a limited time, it would offer customers a year of its new “unlimited” data plan for a base price of $1. (There are small taxes and fees on top of that, though.)

The company also said it will only sell iPhones going forward. As in, no more Android.

Virgin Mobile calls the new plan “Inner Circle,” and says that it will go for $50 a month after the first 12 months of service. It’ll be open to new and existing Virgin Mobile users who buy an iPhone and make the switch prior to July 31.

The service comes with unlimited talk and text, but, as with every “unlimited” plan, also has some caveats:

• Video streams are capped at a “480p+” resolution, which means they’ll be less than HD.
• Music streams are capped at speeds 500 Kbps, while games are capped at 2 Mbps. Both of those should be fine, but those speeds aren’t particularly fast.
• The company says customers that use more than 23 GB of data in a given month will have their speeds “deprioritized” during areas of network congestion.
• There are no family or multi-line plans available. Virgin Mobile says it will eventually offer one, but for now, everyone in your group would have to sign up separately.
• International calls cost an extra $5 or $10 a month, depending on whether you need the ability to call beyond Mexico and Canada.
• You need to set your billing to auto-pay.

All of this piggybacks off of Sprint’s mobile network, which is widely regarded as the weakest of the four major carriers. Nevertheless, cheap is cheap.

As part of the plan, the company is promising early subscribers deals on other Virgin services, including discounts for Virgin Wines bottles and a “free companion ticket” for a Virgin Atlantic flight, among others. This is somewhat similar to what T-Mobile has done with its “T-Mobile Tuesdays” giveaways.

The moves on Wednesday represent a relaunch of sorts for Virgin Mobile, which sits alongside Boost Mobile as Sprint’s major prepaid wings. Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure said last year the company would pull back advertising for Virgin Mobile, highlighting how the brand's business had slowed. Sprint as a whole has struggled in recent years; Verizon and AT&T continue to hold much larger subscriber bases, while T-Mobile has surged into a distinct third place.

The decision to exclusively sell iPhones is a curious one. Virgin, for its part, says the move is meant to bring its mobile brand more in line with the swankier image of its other businesses. But while Apple’s phones are not cheap, prepaid phone users tend to be budget-conscious. Virgin is selling a 32 GB iPhone SE for $279, and the two-year-old iPhone 6 for $319, but iPhone 6s and 7 models are still set at their typically high going rates.

The move will see Virgin Mobile phones sold directly through Apple’s retail stores, however. Virgin said those will start popping up on June 27 — though phones bought through Apple’s website will not be eligible for the new deal.

That retail partnership gets at why Virgin Mobile is selling its service for $1 in the first place. Much like Sprint said last week, Virgin says it’s cutting costs by not spending on its own physical store sales and focusing on digital advertising. But while Sprint described its “free” promotion as an “experiment,” Virgin’s decision to go iPhone-only is its plan for the foreseeable future.

SEE ALSO: Sprint is offering an aggressive deal: a free year of 'unlimited' data for people who switch from Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Everything we know about the iPhone 8 — including a total redesign

Google’s wireless service Project Fi is best known for keeping things simple for subscribers with flat usage rates, and today, it unveiled a new tool to streamline group plan payments. Called Group Repay, each group plan member’s portion of the bill is now automatically calculated, and then provided with several payment options directly through Project Fi.

Project Fi does the math, then any group plan owner or member can set up monthly repayments and reminders. Depending on what group plan members agree upon, the monthly repay amount can be an individual’s total usage, a fixed amount, or only for data usage above an allotted 1GB budget. That’s helpful for roommates, family members, and more.

Continue reading…

Amazon’s $13.7 billion dollar acquisition of Whole Foods is getting all the media attention right now, but the company made another grocery-related investment last week that’s just as interesting: it’s basically giving the new Dash Wand with Alexa away for free. Prime members who spend $20 on the Dash Wand get a $20 Amazon gift card and 90 days of free AmazonFresh grocery delivery, which normally costs $15 per month. All of Amazon’s marketing around the Dash Wand focuses on ordering groceries; the default shopping cart when you use it is AmazonFresh, not Amazon proper.

That’s a hell of a way to kickstart the idea of Amazon delivering groceries — and eventually Amazon delivering groceries from Whole Foods. And it’s another way to sneak...

Continue reading…

Amazon is adding some color to its Echo. The voice assistant will soon be able to turn yellow when you have a voice or text message, as opposed to the green light that appears when you have an incoming call. Currently the light will flash green both when you have a call coming in or when you have a message, which can be confusing.

This is the second announced update to Echo calling in as many weeks. Last week, Amazon let users block calls on the device, fixing a major oversight that should’ve been a part of the launch of the...

Continue reading…

Pioneer is launching a new Lightning-connected speaker today called the Rayz Rally that is designed to host conference calls. The Rally doesn’t have a battery inside, so it has to be plugged into your iPhone to work. (You could also make calls over your iPad or iPod Touch.) On the bright side, you can charge while you listen because the Rally has a Lightning port, too. Really, the Rally is just a plug-and-play speaker that Pioneer claims has been optimized for call clarity. The company also says it detects when you’re playing music instead of calling someone and adjusts its levels accordingly.

It comes with a companion iOS app that updates the device, as well as a built-in “smart button” that can mute / unmute calls or play / pause...

Continue reading…

The government could save up to $1 trillion over 10 years by modernizing and streamlining its IT systems, Trump said. 

About a month ago, New York Times columnist Farhad Manjoo helped coin a new term for the top-five tech companies that are increasingly dominating our lives: The Frightful Five, better known as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook.

The top of his list? Amazon.

Farhad's argument was that he's increasingly dependent on Amazon for buying stuff and entertaining his family. That's true.

But I'd argue Amazon's reach goes deeper than that, deeper than any other company inside or outside the tech world. And its grip on our lives is only getting stronger, which raises some serious questions we haven't had to ask ourselves about the power and influence a tech company can have over our lives.

Out of the Frightful Five, Amazon is the company you should fear the most.

Amazon's surprise $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods is the latest example. We already knew Amazon had ambitions to break into the grocery business through the Amazon Fresh delivery service and the futuristic cashier-free convenience stores, but this is a whole other level — a subtle troll that the online retail giant can creep its way back into the physical world and take over a popular chain of supermarkets.

But let's talk about everything else Amazon has its grip on and how it continues to hold greater influence over:

• Cloud computing. Amazon Web Services powers many of the apps and websites you use every day. (Remember when an Amazon outage took down a large chunk of the internet?)
• Artificial intelligence. Amazon has quickly become a leader in AI thanks to its Alexa assistant, which has opened up a new world of voice-powered computing.
• Logistics. Through Amazon Air, Amazon plans to use drones and its own planes to deliver goods. It's also experimenting with autonmous trucking. Many have speculated that one day Amazon won't need to rely on UPS, FedEX, or the Postal Service to deliver stuff.
• Entertainment. Amazon has dumped millions into original TV programming and movies. It also runs a streaming music service, and lets you buy digital music and video.
• Food. Between Whole Foods, those futuristic grocery stores, and the Fresh delivery service, Amazon is poised to be one of the largest grocers in the country.
• Health. According to a CNBC report, Amazon is thinking about getting it the prescription drug business.
• Retail and e-commerce. This one is self-explanatory.

There's more. Amazon's influence extends to other industries indirectly through CEO Jeff Bezos' personal investments:

• News media. Bezos owns The Washington Post and a small percentage of Business Insider.
• Outer space. Bezos owns a rocket company, Blue Origin, that's building reusable rockets.

That's a lot of stuff that affects you every day from a company that started selling books online back in the 90s. Now it's hard to find a need Amazon can't fill.

That raises some serious, potentially scary questions if Amazon's influence and capabilities continue to grow. Should one conglomerate have that level of control over the future of so many vital industries people rely on? What kind of check will there be on that power, if any? 

Granted, it's a little early to be thinking about all this. Most of the verticals Amazon is involved in are still dominated by traditional companies. But as we saw in the market's reaction to the Whole Foods deal on Friday, it's clear that there's a strong possibility we're accelerating toward a future where there's a digital layer on top of everything we do. And the company best equipped to deliver all is Amazon. There's literally no one else in a position to compete.

That's a lot of power concentrated in one conglomerate, and puts Amazon in a position where it's a company to fear.

SEE ALSO: The creator of Android explains how his new phone will take on Apple and Samsung

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Scott Galloway explains exactly why Amazon would buy Whole Foods (when he predicted it last month)

Weird Phone Case of the Month is a monthly series in which we live with, and subsequently review, our time with a phone case. Phone cases are one of our only ways to express individuality with our smartphones, so what do our phone case choices say about us?

For my birthday this year, my girl and colleague Dami Lee bought me a hot dog phone case. I love hot dogs, which I wouldn’t expect you to know unless you’ve read my Tinder bio, or have somehow picked up on a subconscious hot dog bias in my work. Anyway, thank you, Dami, for the thoughtful gift.

As far as cases go, this hot dog case adds heft to my iPhone 6S. That might be a good thing, because it keeps it protected and adds bounce if I ever drop it. I always appreciate an extra safety...

Continue reading…

Amazon is planning to cut jobs at Whole Foods when it takes over the company, according to a Bloomberg report published Sunday that cited a source with knowledge of the matter.

The Seattle-headquartered e-commerce giant is considering replacing Whole Foods cashiers with technology, according to the report.

The exact number of roles on the line is not specified, but it could run into the thousands given that Whole Foods employs about 90,000 people, including many on the shop floor.

Amazon also intends to lower the price of Whole Foods products as part of a wider effort to make its grocery offering more appealing to people on low and middle incomes, the report suggests.

Bloomberg isn't the only publication examining the potentially devastating consequences for Whole Foods staff. A separate opinion piece from Forbes contributor Panos Mourdoukoutas on Sunday carried the headline "Amazon-Whole Foods Deal Is Bad News For Store Cashiers And The Fight For $15 Minimum Wage."

It's no secret that Amazon is interested in developing supermarkets that do away with people and replace them with sensors, scanners, and chips. They're called Amazon Go stores.

Amazon Go stores feature technology that allows shoppers to simply walk in, grab what they want, and leave. Amazon opened its first Amazon Go test store in Seattle earlier this year. The cashierless store uses a range of sensors and a smartphone app to know what customers have purchased.

Bloomberg's source reportedly said Amazon was looking at introducing the technology in its Amazon Go stores to Whole Foods stores.

Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Every map of Louisiana is a lie — what it really looks like should scare you

Monday marks the official end of Yahoo! as publicly traded company.

Founded in 1994, the company was famous for its homepage which provided a portal to news, entertainment and financial information for many an internet user.

But in recent years, Yahoo struggled to keep up with rivals like Google and Facebook, and eventually began to look for ways to pull more value from the company. The board explored selling off the company's large stake in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan, but the idea was abandoned for tax purposes.

Shortly after, Verizon announced it would buy the company, excluding the Alibaba and Yahoo Japan holdings. This brings us to today when shares of Yahoo will begin trading under the name "Altaba" with the ticker AABA. The firm is now a "management investment company" as it primarily owns shares of Alibaba and Yahoo Japan, according to its SEC filings.

The internet business Yahoo built now operates under the name "Oath" along with the AOL, which Verizon also bought.

The new company, Altaba, owns 383.5 million shares of Alibaba which are valued at about $33.7 billion. It also owns 2 million shares of Yahoo Japan which are valued at $7.7 billion, according to the company's regulatory filing.

The company will also own $12 billion in cash and marketable debts, $130 million in minority investments and $740 million of equity in Excalibur, a subsidiary of the new Altaba that owns several Yahoo patents that were not sold to Verizon.

Shares of the new company began Monday trading at $54.00 and are expected to track the value of Alibaba and Yahoo Japan.

SEE ALSO: Verizon plans to cut about 2,000 jobs at Yahoo, AOL

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An economist explains the key issues that Trump needs to address to boost the economy

Amazon may be the enterprise cloud leader, but its penetration into the business essentially ends there — and the giant may be looking to expand its product suite.

 Slack is in the midst of raising another $500 million in financing at what could be a $5 billion valuation — money it will likely critically need as it goes after major corporate clients and construct a functional business — according to a report by Recode. Slack also got some interest with a $9 billion price tag from Amazon, according to a report from Bloomberg last night. All… Read More

Sometimes the next big thing isn't easy to spot. This is especially true when you have a massive legacy enterprise to protect.

Research firm CB Insights compiled some of the most outrageous times bosses laughed in the face of disruption. We're publishing them here with permission.

Some of the predictions are old enough that they're obviously wrong — people dismissed personal computers and streaming video. And some of those making the predictions ran companies that are now defunct because they missed the boat. With others, the jury is still out as to how off base the dismissal was.

Here are a few of our favorites. You can see the full list of 33 quotes on CB Insights blog:

Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes on streaming video

"Neither RedBox nor Netflix are even on the radar screen in terms of competition," Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes told the Motley Fool in 2008. "It's more Wal-Mart and Apple."

His video-rental chain filed for bankruptcy in 2010. Today Netflix is worth $61.93 billion.

Steve Ballmer on the first iPhone

"Five hundred dollars? Fully subsidized? With a plan? I said that is the most expensive phone in the world," the former Microsoft CEO reportedly said of the first iPhone.

"And it doesn't appeal to business customers because it doesn't have a keyboard. Which makes it not a very good email machine."

Nintendo's North American president on mobile games

These mobile games are "candidly disposable from a consumer standpoint," said Nintendo North America president Reggie Fils-Aime in 2011.

Maybe 65 million monthly active Pokemon Go players changed his mind.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider