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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…
The best personal finance apps in 2023 for iPhone and Android
best personal finance apps.

When managing personal finances, there are many tasks to remember — from budgeting and tracking expenses to saving money and investing for the future. Fortunately, technology has made it easier than ever to stay on top of your finances, and plenty of apps are available for Android and iOS users to help you manage your money effectively. This means you can use them on any of the best mobile devices on the market, including the iPhone 15 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

We have compiled a comprehensive list of our favorite apps to help you find the right personal finance app for your needs. These apps can help you track your spending, create a budget, monitor your investments, and more. Whether you're looking to save for a big purchase, pay off debt, or improve your financial health, these are the personal finance apps you should use.
YNAB

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Don’t wait for the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Just buy this phone instead
The back of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is nine months old, and over the next few weeks, talk of its successor — the inevitable Galaxy S24 Ultra — will start to gather pace.

I went back to the S23 Ultra to see if it was still as exciting as it was in February this year. I also wanted to see if waiting for the sequel instead of buying it today would be a wise decision to make. Here's what I learned.
What makes the Galaxy S23 Ultra unique

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Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are still at their Black Friday prices
The home screen on the Google Pixel 8 Pro.

Best Buy has some fantastic phone deals with both the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro still at their Black Friday prices. That means you can buy the Google Pixel 8 for $549 thereby saving $150 off the regular price of $699. Alternatively, you can buy the Google Pixel 8 Pro for $200 off so it costs $799. If you’re interested in either, take a look below at what we have to say about them before you commit to making a purchase.
Google Pixel 8 -- $549, was $699

The Google Pixel 8 offers great value for money. It has an attractive 6.2-inch OLED “Actua Display” with 2400 x 1080 resolution, up to 2,000 nits of brightness, and a variable refresh rate between 60Hz and 120Hz. Performance is speedy with Android 14 working great on this phone. It also has a strong set of cameras with a main 50MP lens along with a wide-angle camera with 12MP lens and a 125.8-degree field of view. There’s also a 10.5MP selfie camera with fixed focus. One of the best Android phones for value, you’ll love its other features too. The Google Tensor G3 processor is speedy while there are useful software options like the Magic Eraser tool you’ve probably already heard about which is changing up photos for the better. It also has an adaptive battery so it’s possible to run for up to 72 hours between charges depending on what you’re doing with it.

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