Tag: Google

eero acquired by Amazon news

Amazon acquires Eero, doubles down on smart home (and data collection?)

Eero indicates its data collection policy will remain the same, but with a new owner perhaps anything is possible. In what was a surprise move eero, a mesh network company, was acquired by Amazon yesterday. Much like the Ring video doorbell eero will give Team Bezos further reach into the...
Google Home and Amazon Echo Dot

Trendspotting: Smart speaker sales top 66 million units, Amazon Echo leads with 70% market share

This past holiday season the smart speaker was the hot seller. No surprise then that the market continues to grow at a rapid pace. According to a new report, there are now over 66 million smart speaker devices in the U.S. That's up about 25% from the year prior (53...
Google Pixel Phone Colors

Look no further than Google’s Pixel, Pixel XL for screaming Android deals

Though I primarily now use an iPhone (7 Plus, that still runs fine in 2019), I enjoy scouting for occasional deals on old Android phones. That way I can continue to stay up to date on Google's OS, and test out various new features for articles here on Stark...
Roku Adds Premium Subscriptions to The Roku Channel

Roku adds Showtime, Starz premium channels to subscription lineup

More channels means more convenience as streaming services bolster their content offerings.
How to (not) disable the Amazon Echo Alexa Try card

Amazon Echo: The one thing that drives me (and others) absolutely bonkers

Try "Alexa, ..." For all the amazing capability voice assistants bring to our homes, there's often a gotcha here or there, after all this is new technology with the Echo Dot kicking off the smart speaker revolution merely three years ago in 2015. Speaking of Echo, the one thing that drives...
Google Home and Amazon Echo Dot

Trendspotting: Amazon sold “tens of millions” of Echo devices, told 100 million jokes in 2018

Amazon is re-inventing the smart home, and making a fortune in the process. Can Google, Apple, Samsung and others catch up?
Apple to roll Texture into News app and add Netflix-like subscription feature.

Apple Texture Magazine App: Publishers confront similar issue that challenged music, TV and movie business models

The Texture app has been out for a while now. Often described as a Netflix for magazines, the nifty app for iOS and Android lets you read about 200 magazines for only $10/month. It's a great app, and I especially enjoy it when traveling. Now that Apple owns Texture via...
Apple needs to simplify iPhone naming

Are iPhone model names confusing buyers?

First, in 2017, there was the X (as in "ten"), the first iPhone not to use traditional digits in its name. Then, earlier this year, Apple released a trio of speedier, hipper phones with some most unfortunate names: the XR, XS and XS Max. To add to this fun alphabet soup...
Project Fi on iPhone

Mobile News: Google Fi cell service now available for iPhone (Settings screenshot)

11.28.2018 UPDATE: Fi is officially here for iPhone (5S or newer). You can sign up here. Also, Google has renamed and re-branded the service as simply Google Fi. To activate Fi on an iPhone, insert a Fi SIM, download the Google Fi app, and follow the instructions. You'll need to...
Alexa app compared to Sonos for whole home audio

Trendspotting: Echo Dot smart speaker leads way for Amazon on Cyber Monday

We love the Echo Dot. In fact we really, really love the tiny smart speaker. If there was any doubt about our obsession with all things Alexa, that was cast aside in a major way yesterday. Amazon says this year's Cyber Monday was the company's biggest shopping day ever. Ever....