Consumer content

PS4's lead architect disses Xbox One on Fallon show

Microsoft's upcoming Xbox One received a not-so-subtle dig courtesy of a spot on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon."

Continuing video-game week on his show, Fallon invited Mark Cerny, chief system architect of the Sony PS4, to appear Tuesday to discuss and demo Sony's upcoming game console. Before diving into playing an actual game, the two chit-chatted about the PS4's various features.

At one point, Fallon chimed in: "The big story that everyone's talking about is that this system [the PS4] is the only one where you can still play used games." To … Read more

To the end of the (Google) world

Google Street View has ways of getting places. There are its fleet of cars, its tricycles for places without roads, SCUBA divers for the ocean, and even user-generated content.

Nevertheless, there's always, inevitably, an end to the road. Naturally, sometimes this is because the land just plumb runs out. But there are a number of other reasons Google's cameras have not been able to proceed, from the natural to the man-made. The Atlantic's Alan Taylor took a pictorial look at the reasons why. See them in our gallery below. … Read more

Want to curb texting and driving? Turn it into a joke

There's nothing worse than a senseless death.

Not that any death makes sense, of course. But it's easier to accept someone dying of sheer old age than a 16-year-old being crushed in a car because she was texting Polly about the dimples on Charlie's cheeks.

This week, advertising's loudest are meeting at the Cannes Advertising Festival. One campaign doing absurdly well is an absurdist effort from Australia that tries to stop people doing stupid things around trains.

Called "Dumb Ways to Die," it takes the silliness of how people die around trains and raises … Read more

Miami officials propose law changes to allow Uber service

Miami officials have proposed changes to the city's limousine service ordinance, essentially allowing Uber's black car service to finally operate within the area.

The proposal would allow a "digital dispatch software provider," i.e. Uber to apply for a limousine service license and wipe out a slew of restrictions that have hindered Uber's entry into the lucrative Miami-Dade County market. Uber contracts with luxury sedans to provide on-demand car service, and limousine laws govern those operations.

These hindering restrictions include requiring a passenger to request a car an hour before the pick-up time, rendering Uber'… Read more

Airbnb says its Amsterdam tourists spend more, stay longer

Airbnb on Tuesday released another economic impact study -- this time for Amsterdam -- once again touting that its guests stay longer and spend more.

The company again threw out some big claims and while it didn't include a total figure for how much money Airbnb brings to the city, the average amounts generated per tourist were slightly above its previous estimates for San Francisco, but below its estimates for Paris.

This latest report, complied by Airbnb, said tourists who rent through Airbnb hosts stay an average of 3.9 nights and spend about $1,059 (792 euros) during … Read more

Internet access is more important than sleep or food?

Believe or not, the plurality of men in the U.K. rank Internet access as valuable as sex and even more important than food and shelter.

That's right, 42 percent of male respondents in a new survey by broadband provider TP-Link throw food, shelter, and sleep to the wind, while saluting Internet access as one of life's most cherished needs. In fact, 50 percent of people say they dedicate more time to the Internet than sleep.

"As our recent research shows, in the current increasingly digital world, quick and easy connectivity is one of the main concerns … Read more

Yahoo reportedly eyeing two more acquisitions

Yahoo may be looking to continue its spending spree with the acquisitions of a couple of app makers.

Yahoo has reportedly offered to pay $30 million to $40 million to buy Xobni, AllThingsD reported Monday, citing "numerous sources" close to the company.

Xobni, which is "inbox" spelled backwards, offers desktop and mobile apps that can automatically create an address book based on your e-mails. As such, Yahoo may be eyeing the Xobni as a natural fit for its own online mail service.

And there's a common thread between the two companies, AllThingsD noted. Xobni's … Read more

Xbox 360 top console in May...with 114,000 units sold

Microsoft's Xbox 360 was the top-selling console in May, but its sales figures weren't all that impressive.

According to the software giant, it sold 114,000 Xbox 360 units in the U.S. in May, leading all other console makers. By beating its competitors, Microsoft was able to nab its 29th consecutive month as the leading console seller in the U.S.

Perhaps the more surprising point there, though, is that Nintendo's Wii U, which came out just last year, sold fewer than 114,000 units. It's to be expected that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation … Read more

Google's low-cost Chromebooks coming to 6,600 more stores

While Google hasn't done a lot of promotion around its Chromebooks, there's no doubt that the company is still working on bringing the low-cost laptops to more people around the world.

The tech giant announced Monday that it's bringing Chromebooks to more than 6,600 new stores worldwide -- that's three times as many stores as before.

The lion's share will go to Walmart and Staples. Walmart will sell the $199 Acer C7 Chromebook in about 2,800 of its stores across the U.S. And Staples will bring Chromebooks from Acer, HP, and Samsung … Read more