Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC recently released its new flagship phone, the HTC 10. However, despite the high-end specs and features of the HTC 10, some market analysts predict that it will have a hard time competing in the toxic market of Android smartphones. This reason led some analysts to predict that the success of virtual reality headset HTC Vive will be crucial to the future of the company.
Two analysts firms, Gartner and IDC, released a report on April 11 showing that the PC market continues to decline. The report reveal that PC unit sales dropped between 10 and 12 percent during the first quarter of the year.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke at the social network's F8 developer conference on April 12, Tuesday. The company's co-founder announced the new Messenger Platform for building chatbots, described a solar-powered drone for beaming Internet connectivity to remote areas, and discussed the company's development of artificial intelligence (AI) for applications including photo recognition. Facebook's chief executive also shared the company's plans for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) that includes Oculus tech in Gear VR headsets, and new AR smart glasses.
An Uber-like service limited to females and kids is scheduled to launch this month in Boston. The on-demand ride service is limited to women, trans-women, and boys and girls under 13 years old. Chariot for Women will focus on safety, only hire lady drivers, and charge customers similar to traditional taxi fares.
Facebook users are sharing fewer personal updates on the social network based on a new report, while feeds include more memes and brand updates than in the past. In fact, content for News Feeds decreased because personal updates dropped about one-fifth from 2014 to 2015.
HTC's Vive virtual reality headset is helping BMW to design cars, allowing the German automaker to test features and situations without the need to build prototypes. The $800 price tag makes the VR device affordable for the company with $208 billion in assets (2015), and ends the need to use high-cost special facilities. Auto designers can now use a simulated city to test various driving situations for the driver behind the wheel such as road visibility and dashboard controls.
Nintendo has asked two fans to take down their remake of the original Legend of Zelda for the NES gaming console. Their browser-based game celebrated the 30th anniversary of the classic Nintendo game. The project's website shares that the gaming giant asked it to remove the site due to copyright infringement.
BMW has rolled out a new car-sharing service named ReachNow that lets Seattle residents rent from 400 cars that can be picked up and dropped off almost anywhere within the city limits. The German automaker hopes to later expand the program to other cities throughout the United States. Audi and Daimler have launched similar programs in major North American cities including New York, Miami, Austin, San Francisco, and Vancouver.
Belkin has been working with Apple since 2015 on its plan to add HomeKit Compatibility to its popular set of WeMo smart Products. However, Belkin has put its plans on hold because adding HomeKit Compatibility to products already in the market is not possible.
Facebook is now providing developers with Application Program Interfaces (API) to build chatbots and Live Chat plug-ins for business clients. The tools will be announced at the company's F8 developer conference on April 12 and 13 in San Francisco and is part of the social network's goal of bringing chatbots to its Messenger instant messaging service.
