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The Surface Mini Is Officially Dead

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On Tuesday during <a href="http://apps.shareholder.com/sec/viewerContent.aspx?companyid=MSFT&docid=10104948">Microsoft’s FY14 Q4 earnings report</a>
 to the United States Security and Exchange Commission, the company 
revealed that it is no longer pursuing an 8-inch Surface Mini tablet. 
Microsoft disclosed this in the “Computing and Gaming Hardware” section 
of the report.

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“Current year cost of revenue included Surface inventory adjustments 
resulting from our transition to newer generation devices and a decision
 to not ship a new form factor,” the report stated.</div>
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News of the Surface Mini has been rather wishy-washy since the tablet
 was removed from a Surface reveal event back in May. Rumor has it that 
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella pulled the device at the last minute because
 it didn’t have anything to differentiate it from other small 
Windows-based tablets. The touchy Office “Gemini” apps were supposed to 
make their debut on the tablet, but now it looks as if we won’t see them
 until Spring 2015.</div>
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<span id="goog_1790235361"></span><span id="goog_1790235362"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Thousands of Surface Mini units are believed to be locked away in one of Microsoft’s warehouses.</div>
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The news arrives as <a href="http://www.macrumors.com/2014/07/22/slimmer-ipad-mini-air-2014/">rumors begin to surface</a>
 about a third Apple iPad Mini “Air”. This device is rumored to pack a 
new Apple A8 processor and a design that’s a 30-percent thinner form 
factor when compared to the older iPad Mini model. That would suggest a 
thickness of around 5.25 mm; the first-generation model is 7.2 mm and 
the second-generation is 7.5 mm thanks to the Retina display.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy5Z1kM2ir-IZbL1x_by5jnXpFgxEHyCXwmN_56qJ8njz0kkrIdu7OQAqflPSQxV_B2KiINqUi0HlkB2U6pkNNd01fe1Vd9le7veSCzQxCuW-WhG0FpvyhsOQo8YDdrNacO4d-Pk1cu_U/s1600/Surface-Phone-concept-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy5Z1kM2ir-IZbL1x_by5jnXpFgxEHyCXwmN_56qJ8njz0kkrIdu7OQAqflPSQxV_B2KiINqUi0HlkB2U6pkNNd01fe1Vd9le7veSCzQxCuW-WhG0FpvyhsOQo8YDdrNacO4d-Pk1cu_U/s1600/Surface-Phone-concept-1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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How Apple will reduce the iPad Mini’s size is unknown for now, but 
there’s a chance the company will use the same sapphire crystal display 
that will be used on the rumored iPhone 6. This protective display would
 reportedly be about as thin as a sheet of paper. </div>
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The third-generation iPad Mini is expected to hit shelves in 3Q 2014,
 probably behind the launch of Apple’s iPhone 6 in September. Macrumors 
reports that this model will likely have a more durable Touch ID 
fingerprint sensor. The device will also support iOS 8’s new SDK, which 
allows third party apps to access the fingerprint scanner to verify the 
user.</div>
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Did Microsoft do the right thing in cancelling the Surface Mini? The 
company reported on Tuesday that Surface revenue was $409 million, 
driven by the second-generation Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 devices, 
along with the recent launch of the Surface Pro 3.</div>
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“We launched Surface Pro 3 in the U.S. and Canada on June 20, and it 
will roll out to additional markets beginning in the first quarter of 
fiscal year 2015,” the report stated. “This new device is optimized for 
productivity and highlights the progress we have made bringing hardware 
and software together.”</div>
</div>

The Surface Mini Is Officially Dead

On Tuesday during Microsoft’s FY14 Q4 earnings report to the United States Security and Exchange Commission, the company revealed tha...

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Premium Tutorials Forum • View topic - Internet Download Manager (IDM) 6.19 Crack

Premium Tutorials Forum • View topic - Internet Download Manager (IDM) 6.19 Crack

Premium Tutorials Forum • View topic - Internet Download Manager (IDM) 6.19 Crack

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Snakable’s New USB Charging Cable Will Never Need Duct Tape

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDgXWQxkvgNAWdjG_VFebgHZ5OSZ2Z5A4vYJslx4oTLajf5L3EoAda9IQT8bhrm1XhT_-P20NdSHrdrsqDeKWijQKqE-rKsdiHTCrFvMGQhBeKY0lcw73IaXuHOkyDsATzpomR2EiRpfo/s1600/snakable.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDgXWQxkvgNAWdjG_VFebgHZ5OSZ2Z5A4vYJslx4oTLajf5L3EoAda9IQT8bhrm1XhT_-P20NdSHrdrsqDeKWijQKqE-rKsdiHTCrFvMGQhBeKY0lcw73IaXuHOkyDsATzpomR2EiRpfo/s1600/snakable.jpeg" title="" width="320" /></a></div>
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If you’ve ever owned a USB charging cable (and if you’re reading 
TechCrunch, odds are you have), then you’ve encountered the problem that
 <a href="https://www.premiumtut.tk/" target="_blank">Snakable</a>
 wants to solve. That is, after repeated use, the cable breaks, the 
wires are exposed, and then, more often that not, the cable itself 
becomes unreliable, requiring you to jiggle it in order to get 
your device to start charging. Snakable, instead, offers a new type of 
USB charging cable that includes built-in protection from the dangers of
 over-bending and strain present in today’s cables, with a 
patent-pending strain relief assembly on its end that has free-moving 
ball joints to prevent the cable from bending beyond a safe radius.</div>
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Oh, and I guess this makes the cable look a little bit like a snake because of the way it moves, hence the name.</div>
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The project was dreamed up by Wes Goulbourne, whose background in 
aerospace has had him working alongside engineers for his entire career.
 (He currently works at Boeing in Philadelphia.)</div>
</div>

Snakable’s New USB Charging Cable Will Never Need Duct Tape

If you’ve ever owned a USB charging cable (and if you’re reading TechCrunch, odds are you have), then you’ve encountered the problem th...

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Amazon Extends Its Shopping Cart To Twitter

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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="266" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iAm6pa9hPKA?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Amazon has <a href="https://premiumtut.tk/" target="_blank">just introduced</a> a new feature that lets Twitter users add items to their Amazon carts by including a hashtag within a tweet.</div>
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After the user connects their Twitter account to Amazon, they can 
extend their Amazon shopping experience by tweeting a reply to Amazon 
product links they see on Twitter including the hashtag #AmazonCart — or
 #AmazonBasket in the UK — to add the product to their shopping basket.</div>
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“Add it now, buy it later” is the slogan Amazon is using on a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAm6pa9hPKA" target="_blank">promo video</a> explaining the new feature.</div>
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The feature not only extends the retail reach of Amazon beyond its 
own website, reducing purchase friction, but co-opts Twitter users into 
product marketing activity — since they are publishing tweets indicating
 which items they are buying from Amazon.</div>
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It also extends the notification noise a user will get from Amazon if
 they decide to make use of the shortcut for adding stuff they see on 
Twitter to their basket — with Amazon noting that it will email users 
when an item has been successfully added to their shopping cart 
via Twitter.</div>
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Amazon is not the first company to aim to turn Twitter into a retail pipeline. Startup <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/31/chirpify-a-service-that-lets-you-shop-by-replying-buy-on-social-media-raises-6m-series-a/" target="_blank">Chirpify raised a $6 million Series A</a>
 funding round back in July last year for a social shopping service that
 allows social media users to include trigger words (so called 
‘actiontags’) in their updates to perform actions, such as buying the 
item or being sent a link to it. Amazon of course brings massive scale 
to the concept, giving it a greater chance for traction.</div>
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Seeking ways to reduce purchase friction is a long-term mission for Amazon — which holds the patent on <a href="http://premiumtut.tk/" target="_blank">1-click</a>
 buying. That’s from the days of web 1.0, though. Social networks 
morphing into social commerce outlets in their own right (thinking of 
the potential of a site such as Pinterest, for instance, or Instagram) 
is a threat to Amazon as a central e-commerce hub.</div>
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So Amazon extending its reach into social hubs where web users are 
congregating and discussing products is an obvious strategy to defend 
itself against the rise of alternative social retail hubs. If 
the AmazonCart feature takes off, it effectively Twitter into a 
windowshopping platform for Amazon.</div>
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“Twitter offers a great environment for our customers to discover 
product recommendations from artists, experts, brands and friends. 
#AmazonCart was designed to help customers add products to their cart 
now without leaving Twitter and come back later to shop and buy on 
Amazon,” said an Amazon spokesperson in an email to TechCrunch.</div>
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The feature also potentially gives more pull to product makers to 
sell their stuff on Amazon, rather that opt for another retail 
option. Amazon declined to confirm how many companies it has signed up 
to tweet out product links that are identifiable as being sold on Amazon
 — a prerequisite for the #AmazonCart feature to function.</div>
</div>

Amazon Extends Its Shopping Cart To Twitter

Amazon has just introduced a new feature that lets Twitter users add items to their Amazon carts by including a hashtag within a twee...

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Google Stops Mining Education Gmail And Google Apps Accounts For Ad Targeting

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Google will no longer scan student and teacher Gmail messages or use 
data from Apps for Education for advertising purposes, the company told 
the WSJ today.
 The move comes after Google’s use of data from its education products 
came under fire by students and others during a court case last year 
that claimed the scanning violated user privacy rights.<br />

The company’s director of Google for Education Bram Bout told the WSJ
 that all scanning of Gmail and any collection and use of data from Apps
 for Education, which includes Google Docs, will stop. Previously, ads 
weren’t included in education apps, but the company still scanned them 
for information to be used later in other areas to target ads to users. 
Google also said it’s looking at making similar moves in its Apps for 
business and for government products.<br />

Google’s email and app scanning is all performed by robots, and none 
of the raw data is ever seen by humans according to the company, but it 
has still proven a means through which critics of the company (including
 Microsoft) have been able to try to tear it down. Google moving to end 
education customer scanning is a big step towards addressing criticism, 
and no small act by Google, since it means the company now has 30 
million fewer data points from which to gather ad targeting insight.</div>

Google Stops Mining Education Gmail And Google Apps Accounts For Ad Targeting

Google will no longer scan student and teacher Gmail messages or use data from Apps for Education for advertising purposes, the company ...

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Apple Said To Be Mulling Health And Fitness Services Platform

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Apple is reportedly working on building a “full health and fitness 
services platform,” which would resemble and be modelled on its App 
Store software marketplace, according to a new <a href="http://www.premiumtut.tk/" target="_blank">report by Reuters</a>. Apple is also said to be ramping up its hiring of health tech and hardware experts, which is an ongoing trend that’s been <a href="http://premiumtut.tk/" target="_blank">noticed by other observers in the past</a>.</div>
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The latest hire at Apple is StartX Med founder Divya Nag, who created
 the Stanford-backed startup accelerator to foster and grow companies 
and entrepreneurs that want to build technology (including software and 
hardware) related to health and medicine. Other recent hires include 
Masimo Corp chief medical officer Michael O’Reilly, Vital Connect VP of 
biosensor technology Ravi Narasimhan, embedded sensors expert Nima 
Ferdosi and a few others, too.</div>
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Apple’s hiring spree is said to be about talent, not necessarily any 
specific tech from the companies these people were poached from. It’s 
about building an iWatch, which will reportedly have health tracking 
features, but it’s also more broadly about building a health platform. 
Other companies, including Apple rival Samsung, have built their own 
health and fitness platforms to help convince people to buy their 
devices over those of others, but mostly these feel half-baked. There’s 
still plenty of opportunity to build something mature and complete, and 
it makes sense to roll up all the energy going into building startup 
software and hardware health products.</div>
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Rumors have been swirling about Nike dropping its hardware efforts in
 favor of partnering with Apple on deeper integration between their 
software and Apple devices, and that could be something that does indeed
 signal a wider platform push. An App Store for health sounds like 
something that doesn’t necessarily to be broken out from the main 
product, but at this stage, it’s too early to tell how similar or 
different such a project might be.</div>
</div>

Apple Said To Be Mulling Health And Fitness Services Platform

Apple is reportedly working on building a “full health and fitness services platform,” which would resemble and be modelled on its Ap...

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