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PicoBrew blindsides Kickstarter backers with surprise stretch goal

PicoBrew has been making beer brewing easy for a while. The company’s current Kickstarter campaign has been running for a couple of weeks. Today, the company announced a surprise upgrade option to its campaign — a whole new appliance. The PicoStill is a small still to make hard liquor from the beer you made with the PicoBrew C. I’m not sure these types of surprises are a… Read More

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Crunch Report | Uber Might Have To Support In-App Tipping

 Today’s Stories  New York’s Taxi commission to propose in-app tipping requirement for Uber Google reaches $7.8 million settlement in its Android antitrust case in Russia Facebook issues statement after murder suspect shares video of shooting in Cleveland Instagram now lets you organize bookmarks into private collections Steve Jobs’ custom Apple I and other historic machines… Read More

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The Christopher Ward C60 Trident Pro 600 is the sea lover’s mechanical watch

 Christopher Ward is a relative newcomer to the watch scene and has long produced simpler, less expensive pieces for the fashion set. Now, after a bit of a rebirth, the British company is finally releasing pieces a techie would love.
Take the euphoniously-named C60 Trident Chronograph Pro 600, a ,750 watch with a large, thick 43mm case made of stainless steel, a ceramic bezel, and a nice… Read More

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SpotCam connects you to your home, outside and in

 When it comes to home surveillance cams there are two kinds of cams – low-end, highly-motorized, wireless IP cams that are (typically) fairly insecure and higher-end cloud service systems like Dropcam that offer secure but more expensive cameras. SpotCam seems to land squarely in the middle with their SpotCam Sense Pro line. I tested two models and found them more than acceptable for… Read More

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The Ohmni home robot wants to help families stay in touch with telepresence

Home robotics is an area of intense interest, with many large companies exploring how they might best address the potential market. Bosch subsidiary Mayfield Robotics has Kuri, and automakers including Toyota and Honda have their own approach, which a focus on independence for people continuing into our senior years. Startup OhmniLabs thinks that human connection is what will convince people… Read More

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Nintendo reveals Joy-Con battery grips and new color, standalone Switch dock

Nintendo will offer a special battery grip accessory for its Joy-Con controller accessory, which will be offered in sets of two and add more life to the already considerable 20-hour runtime of the Joy-Cons using their built-in power. Nintendo is also going to add a new color option for Joy-Cons, a Neon Yellow that will make sure everyone knows you’re using a Switch and can’t… Read More

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High-speed camera rig captures 3D images of birds’ wings in flight

You don’t have to be an ornithologist to know that birds are pretty good at flying. But while we know how they do it in general, the millimeter- and microsecond-level details are difficult to pin down. Researchers at Stanford are demystifying bird flight with a custom camera/projector setup, and hoping to eventually replicate its adaptability in unpredictable air currents. Read More

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Why Flybrix skipped crowdfunding to launch its LEGO drone kits

 Flybrix first dreamed up a drone that kids could build with LEGO bricks in 2015. At the time, the co-founders debated the merits of launching with a crowdfunding campaign. They craved the exposure that brands attracted on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, but they knew consumers were growing suspicious of promises made by crowdfunding hardware startups. Read More