jeff bakalar

Now Google is making a smartwatch.

You didn't think Google was going to sit the smartwatch party out, did you? Since the Pebble watch made a splash at CES, we've gotten word that both Apple and Samsung are busy working on wearable tech that will talk to our mobile phones. It should come as no surprise then to find out that Google is now exploring the market with a watch based off its Android operating system. There's no date on when to expect these watches, but for now you can read reviews of ones that have already … Read more

Google wants to "Keep" your notes.

Yesterday Google introduced Keep, the new mobile and Web-based note-storing service that looks to take aim at products like Evernote. Boasting a simple, easy-to-use interface, Keep will work with Google Drive so that all notes are synced across different platforms. Users can edit their notes from either their phone or the Web and the information will be saved everywhere. You can also use voice dictation and photos to help enhance each note you take.

The BlackBerry Store has topped 100,000 apps, 30,000 of which were just added in the last … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- The Valve Steam Box is coming.

- How HBO will tackle "Game of Thrones" piracy.

- The Last of Us has a unique plotline with clicking mushroom people.… Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- An asteroid is coming, and scientists are excited. Fear not, Earth is safe.

- Search for near-Earth asteroids needs a speed boost.

- Take a peek at Domino's Pizza's Super Bowl "war room."

- Free food: Pizza Hut introduces "Sliders."… Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- "Bang With Friends" sex app claims to help you mix business with pleasure.

- Paying tribute to Holocaust victims...using Grindr?

- Google Street View catches couple doing it in a dressing room.

- Research finds people that fly in virtual reality are more eager to help in real life.

- Sony teases big NYC event for February 20; PS4 debut?… Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- This man will take your picture while macing you.

- Ticketmaster does one thing right, dumps captchas.

- PornHub's rejected SFW Super Bowl ad is brilliant marketing.

- Swedish police raid teenagers playing Call of Duty.… Read more

Jeff hasn't finished complaining about last year's Retina Display iPad yet and Apple went ahead and announced a new 128-gigabyte model for $799. But wait, haven't we been getting beaten in the head with Apple's cloudcentric messaging for the last two years? Why the push for local storage all of a sudden?

In pop culture news, we'll spend some of the first half talking about mistaken identities through the Internet and the "Catfish" show on MTV that just wrapped up its first season.

Some critics accused the episodes of being staged (like the film it was based on), but a casting application for Season 2 at least proves that the stories are staged at most, not entirely made up.… Read more

Microsoft assumes you probably haven't used an Internet Explorer browser since the mid-1990s, and the company's latest commercial for IE10 takes us all back to those awkward times with a montage of '90s nostalgia that includes slap bracelets, Oregon Trail, LA Gear Lights, and Tamogotchis. We're not sure how any of those items are supposed to lure us away from Firefox or Chrome, but check it out anyway.

We knew it was only a matter of time before a 6-second clip of hardcore porn made its way to the Twitter Vine, but we never expected it to come from Twitter itself--a nasty clip was featured for a short time on Vine's "Editor's Choice" pick list. Granted, it's not the first instance of adult content on the new social video service.

With Vine's TOS giving users creative freedom to access its service, an unfiltered stream of dirty hashtags is already building out on VineRoulette. Then again, who the hell wants to watch porn for only six seconds?… Read more

The next LG Optimus may have leaked!

This week Fortune debuted a list of the 100 best companies to work for. Google took the No. 1 spot while Microsoft checked in at No. 75. Wireless tech company Qualcomm took the 11 spot while chip manufacturer Intel showed up at 68.

Details of a high-powered version of LG's Optimus G have apparently leaked online. A slide sent to Engadget teases a new LG phone with a 5-inch 1080p display, a 1.7GHz quad-core processor, 13-megapixel rear camera, and 32 GB of on-board storage. There's no word yet on which … Read more