Want to figure out how to get more-efficient energy usage from your household light bulbs? Care to track your driving skills and see how to be more fuel efficient? There’s an app not just for that, but for all things green. The Apple App Store and the Android Market list many apps to conserve energy and [...]
May 11
Retailers turn to Facebook to sell their wares
More of the world’s biggest marketers are selling their stuff at the place where consumers hanker to hang out: Facebook. Think of it as the ultimate convenience for a mobile generation that considers it seriously inconvenient to leave Facebook — even for a moment — in order to go to a retailer’s website. Now, marketers [...]
May 11
Apple, Google try to ease lawmakers’ privacy concerns
Senate panel members remained skeptical during a hearing as executives defended their companies’ practices of collecting location data through cellphones and other devices. Executives from Apple Inc. and Google Inc. had a tough time trying to allay the fears of federal lawmakers that location data collected through cellphones and other mobile devices are anonymous and not a [...]
May 11
Turn your Android into a remote control for your home
Google wants people to use its Android software to operate a lot more than just phones and tablets. And at Google I/O, the company’s conference for developers in San Francisco this week, the company showed off a future where someone could use an Android phone to turn on and off the lights, the dishwasher, a [...]
May 02
Verizon to put location-tracking warning sticker on phones
In the wake of a giant brouhaha over the news that Apple’s iPhones record and store users’ locations, Verizon Wireless says it will start slapping ‘we can track you!’ warning stickers on its products. Verizon’s announcement came in the form of a letter to Representatives Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Joe Barton, a Texas Republican. [...]
May 02
HBO now available on mobile devices
The pay TV network will begin offering its subscribers access to HBO Go programming on Android mobile devices and Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPad tablet at no additional charge. “That device has changed television,” HBO Co-President Eric Kessler said this week, pointing to an iPad during an interview at the company’s Santa Monica offices. HBO [...]
Apr 27
Personal data stolen from PlayStation Network
Sony has admitted that hackers have stolen the personal information of customers who use the company’s online PlayStation Network.
Apr 27
Facebook tests deals program
What happens when you cross the world’s largest social network with one of the hottest business models in e-commerce? Facebook wants to find out. Facebook is launching a deals program Tuesday in five U.S. cities, following on the popularity of Groupon and other services that offer deep discounts — for example: $50 worth of food [...]
Apr 25
Your Phone, Yourself: When is tracking too much?
If you’re worried about privacy, you can turn off the function on your smartphone that tracks where you go. But that means giving up the services that probably made you want a smartphone in the first place. After all, how smart is an iPhone or an Android if you can’t use it to map your [...]
Apr 25
U.S. helps homeowners get loans to improve energy efficiency
Many U.S. homeowners are now eligible for up to $25,000 in federally insured loans to make energy-efficient upgrades such as adding insulation, sealing ducts or replacing windows. Consumers with good credit scores, manageable debt and some equity in their homes can get PowerSaver loans at or below market rates to finance efficiency measures that also [...]
