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Weekly Rewind: A weight loss vest, manmade meteors, and a physical Amazon store

top tech stories 05 22 2016 tokyo meteor shower
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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 what happened at Google I/O to a lung cancer detecting breathalyzer, it’s all here.

Stories: 1-5

Google I/O 2016 recap: Android Wear 2.0, Allo and Duo, Google Home, Daydream, and more

Google’s I/O developer conference keynote has come and gone, revealing the internet titan has more than just a few slick tricks up its sleeve. Highlights from the massively well-attended event include the announcement of a VR program Google has developed called Daydream.

Read the full story here.

A closer look at Thin Ice: the magical weight loss vest that siphons heat off your body to burn calories

Thin-Ice-vest-plate-1
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It seems like something out of science fiction or a bad infomercial. A wearable that lowers the temperature when pressed on the skin to help the body burn more calories and, in the process, cut more fat out of those problem areas? That explains Thin Ice in a nutshell, a vest that uses patent-pending cooling technology to help trigger weight loss.

Read the full story here.

Bye-bye Marvel? Hulu’s new live TV service has Disney CEO rethinking Netflix deals

Walt-Disney-CEO-Bob-Iger
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Earlier this month, both Hulu and YouTube announced plans within days of each other to launch live-streaming internet TV services in 2017. While this might have seemed an odd move for YouTube, it almost seemed a given for Hulu, given that three of the companies expected to be licensing content to the new service are also co-owners of the streamer.

Read the full story here.

The Zuck met with conservatives over news bias claims, and here’s what happened

Facebook-Mark-Zuckerberg
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Working tirelessly to limit the damage caused by recent accusations that Facebook has been suppressing stories from conservative news outlets for its Trending Topics feature, Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday met with more than a dozen leading conservatives to discuss how to ensure the social networking service can “continue to be a platform for all ideas across the political spectrum.”

Read the full story here.

Knocki surpasses its Kickstarter goal in a little more than an hour

Knocki-in-Hand
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Secret knocks have long been used to gain entrance to treehouses, clubs, and forts, and now you can actually use one to unlock your front door. Swan Solutions decided to take the idea of specialized knocks and apply it to everything in your house. The Knocki is a silver-and-white hockey puck-shaped device that lets you turn on your lights, change the song you’re listening to, or switch off the TV.

Read the full story here.

Stories: 6-10

We break down Google’s 6 different personal chatting apps

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Google announced two new messaging platforms at Google I/O: Allo, an upcoming application heavily integrated with Google Assistant, and Duo, a video app that showcases live footage from incoming calls before users even pick up. These apps also come a mere two days after Google announced Spaces, a group chat application and social network that’s heavily integrated with Google’s own search engine.

Read the full story here.

Want an impressive opening ceremony? 2020 Olympics may include a man-made meteor shower

SkyCanvas Promotion Movie (Dubai, Singapore, Japan)

Call it the world’s best idea or worst idea, but it’s sure to be something special. The Olympics may be all about athletic prowess, but its opening ceremonies have always been about showmanship. And what could be more spectacular than a man-made meteor shower? Star-ALE is bidding for the right to create a meteor shower over Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics.

Read the full story here.

A group of Harvard and MIT students have created a lung cancer breathalyzer system

MIT-100K-Award-0001
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A team of entrepreneurs from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a breathalyzer capable of detecting early stages of lung cancer. At MIT’s 27th annual Entrepreneurship Competition, Astraeus Technologies won a $100,000 grand prize for its L CARD (Chemically Actuated Resonate Device).

Read the full story here.

FindFace is a new facial recognition app that could end public privacy

FindFace: an app that allows you to find any person in your Network for photography

Facial recognition can be a wonderful feature to have implemented into platforms and devices. You can unlock your computer with it, automatically have your photos sorted by who’s in them, and even swap your face with your dog in Snapchat. But what happens when facial recognition is so good that it almost completely eliminates the potential of anonymity in public?

Read the full story here.

A brick-and-mortar Amazon store may be coming to a city near you

Amazon-Brick-And-Mortar
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Don’t be fooled by the brick-and-mortar stores it’s got, this is still Amazon from the block. Or rather, the web. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has promised to bring more of Amazon offline and into the physical sphere, though it’s unclear yet as to how many “more” really is. But don’t worry — Amazon isn’t leaving the internet behind.

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…
Prime Big Deal Days Fitbit Deals 2024: Versa, Charge, Sense
Best Prime Day Deals

Update 10/07/24: Even though Prime Day officially starts tomorrow, there are still some great early Fitbit deals you can take advantage of. We've updated the article with a few offers, and while we're expecting to see more tomorrow, if you see a deal you like now, you might as well grab it!

We’ve got all the best Prime Day deals that are going on as part of the Amazon Prime Big Deal Days event which runs, across October 8 and 9. With thousands of deals to check out, it can be overwhelming, so we’ve honed in on the best Prime Day Fitbit deals. Fitbits can often be a touch more affordable than the Prime Day smartwatch deals happening due to the focus being on fitness tracking over the full watch experience. Of course if you want to invest in something more advanced, we have some sweet Prime Day Garmin Watch deals to discover, but for now let’s check out the Prime Day Fitbit deals that are perfect for starting you on your fitness journey.
Fitbit Versa (renewed) -- $90 $143 37% off

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We might know the release day for Apple’s new iPad mini
The iPad Mini and Apple pencil work very well together.

The wait for a new iPad mini is nearly over. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, a next-generation model should be announced and launched in the coming weeks. This will end a long, three-year wait for a fresh iPad mini. Gurman says the seventh-generation iPad mini 7 could ship on Friday, November 1, after an announcement toward the end of this month.

Little is known about the new iPad mini, although we can probably make some educated guesses. The device will most likely feature an Apple M2 chip, the same one found in the iPad Air (2024). The new tablet could also come with a 12MP ultrawide camera in landscape orientation, provide support for the Apple Pencil Pro, and bring various other improvements.

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Google Pixel Prime Big Deal Days deals: Phones, watches, earbuds
Comparison of Google Pixel 8 and 8a.

Update 10/07/24: With just one day away from the official start of the Prime Big Deal days, we're already seeing some great deals on various pixel devices rolling out. We've included a few of the best deals we could find below, but be sure to check back as we update with newer and better deals.

It's probably no surprise that Prime Day is the best time to snag yourself some excellent Google Pixel deals, and Prime Big Deal Days on October 8 and 9 are no different. Pretty much all Google Pixel products are going on sale, which is why we've gone out and scoured the internet for the best Google Pixel Prime Day deals on everything from Pixel phones to Pixel watches. That said, you may also want to check out our general roundup of Prime Day deals, and if you're not necessarily tied to Google, it's worth taking a look at these Prime Day smartwatch deals, Prime Day tablet deals, and Prime Day smartphone deals for some more options.
Best Prime Day Pixel Deals

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