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Weekly Rewind: Emmy madness, yet more 'Pokémon Go,' and a moon photobomb

top tech stories 07 16 2016 wr 7 15 head
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In the tech world, a lot happens in a week. So much news goes on that it’s almost impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of everything. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of the top 10 tech stories from this week. Everything from this year’s Emmy nominations and the Pokémon Go craze to Line’s highly anticipated IPO, it’s all here.

HBO dominates Emmy race while FX and Netflix gain ground

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The who’s, what’s, and where’s of this year’s Emmy nominations: did your favs make the cut? Last year’s Emmy Awards dished out the typical expected wins, alongside some disappointments, surprises, and outright shutouts. Leading the pack in nominations this year is (as usual) HBO, thanks to series like Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, and Veep.

Read the full story here.

Bizarre incidents involving Pokémon Go start to pile up

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As the Pokémon Go craze spreads ever wider, here are some pro tips on what NOT to do while playing; don’t play Pokémon Go while driving, don’t stop your car in traffic to pop out and catch a Pokémon, don’t wander down dark alleys in the bad part of town and get jacked while playing.

Read the full story here.

Google is hosting its first Indie Game Festival in September

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Google is getting serious about gaming. The tech giant just announced the first-ever Google Play Indie Games Festival, which will take place on September 24 in San Francisco, and will highlight 30 of the best indie games available, (or to be available) on the Google Play Store. Interested in taking part? You can submit your own games for consideration for the festival simply by heading to this website.

Read the full story here.

GoPro LiveVR shows 360-degree view of motorcycle race from rider’s POV

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For racing and virtual reality fans, GoPro has a new video that should excite both camps. The video tells the story of professional father-and-son motorcycle racers Randy and Dakota Mamola, and how both used the latest camera technologies to capture a high-speed bike ride, giving viewers new perspectives of the sport. The video also gives a behind-the-scenes demonstration of GoPro’s LiveVR technology and how it can be applied to live broadcasts of motorsports.

Read the full story here.

Sun-powered Solar Dogger promises perfectly cooked hot dogs in just 10 minutes

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With summer in full swing, few things are as satisfying on a warm afternoon than a perfectly cooked Hebrew National. What if you could utilize the natural energy of the sun to grill your dogs? This endeavor is exactly what the folks at the Cincinnati-based GoSun — the team behind the successful GoSun Stove and Grill — intend to deliver with the aptly named Solar Dogger; a fuel-free, solar-powered hot dog cooker that’s capable of producing superbly cooked hot dogs in just 10 minutes.

Read the full story here.

The Moon photobombed NASA’s images of Earth … again

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The Moon must find photobombing funny. Last week, for the second time in less than a year, while a NASA camera on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite was trying to observe the Earth’s atmosphere, the Moon swung in for a brief but remarkable interruption. “For the second time in the life of DSCOVR, the Moon moved between the spacecraft and Earth,” Adam Szabo said in a statement.

Read the full story here.

Grindr is successfully convincing gay men to get tested for HIV, study shows

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It’s not all fun and games on the dating app scene — there are lives being saved too. As these apps continue to rise in popularity, everyone from politicians to companies to researchers are taking advantage of this new trend in love. Now, a new study suggests that Grindr could be an effective medium for getting black and Hispanic men to try home HIV testing kits.

Read the full story here.

Line messaging app goes public with year’s biggest tech company debut

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Line Corporation, maker of the popular Japanese messaging app Line, arrived on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Thursday morning in what turned out to be the biggest market debut of a tech company this year. Trading under the ticker symbol “LN,” Line opened at $42. Despite suffering a slight dip, it ended the first day at $41.58, up 27 percent from its IPO price. Overall, that gives Line a market value of approximately $8 billion, CNN reports.

Read the full story here.

YouTube to offer a live 360-degree look at the Republican and Democratic conventions

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Both the Republic National Convention and Democratic National Convention are right around the corner, and while the important news from each will circulate in a number of ways, that isn’t enough for hardcore news junkies. YouTube has a solution to this problem, as it announced in a blog post on Thursday that it will offer live-streaming coverage of both conventions, just as it did in 2012.

Read the full story here.

Turn studio flats into spacious one-bedroom apartments with this amazing robotic furniture

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When it comes to studio apartments, renters and owners tend to sacrifice want for necessity and functionality to get the most out of a typically diminutive space. To help studio apartment-goers get the most out of their tiny abodes, an MIT Media Lab spinoff by the name of Ori has just introduced an innovative new line of robotic furniture geared towards getting the most out of small spaces.

Read the full story here.

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
The camera on this Android phone is confusing, but I love it
The back of the Tecno Camon 30 Premier.

I’m all for a lot of detail, and love to hear about the new technology that’s inside a smartphone I’m about to test, but when I have to search for an explanation of what something means, it’s not a good start. The Tecno Camon 30 Premier suffers from this problem, as it has a lot of cool camera tech that is explained in a mystifying way.

So, I thought the best thing to do was to just ignore the tech speak and find out if it takes great photos the old-fashioned way.
What's the problem?

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The 5 best phones with IR blasters in 2024
The OnePlus 12's camera module.

IR blasters used to be a common component in smartphones, with big products from Samsung, OnePlus, and TCL giving users access to the cool gadget. Phones equipped with IR blasters could be used as a universal remote for your other electronics, making it easy to control your gear without the need for their default controller (which might be clunky and unintuitive to use).

Fast forward today, and attempting to find a smartphone with an IR blaster is shockingly difficult. What was once common technology is now relegated to just a handful of smartphones. You won't find any iPhones or Galaxy phones with IR blasters, but that doesn't mean you have to settle for a poorly reviewed smartphone if you're interested in the tech. You will, however, probably need to settle for either OnePlus or Xiaomi, as they're the two key players still churning out powerful smartphones equipped with IR blasters.

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Why you should buy the iPhone 15 Pro instead of the iPhone 15 Pro Max
Natural Titanium iPhone 15 Pro with Chopper and BD-1 droids around it.

Apple releases multiple iPhones every year, offering folks choice in terms of size and features. In 2024, the iPhone 15 lineup includes four distinct models.

The regular iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are great for those who don’t need a telephoto lens and don’t care about the Action button or the 1TB of storage. But anyone who wants a more “pro” experience has the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

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