Video: Glitch at San Diego Big Bay Boom sets off 18 minutes of fireworks in 15 seconds

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Misc. Tech, Videos,

Yesterday was the 4th of July, celebrated in the USA as Independence Day. Across the country, fireworks shows dazzled spectators to celebrate the 235th birthday of the United States, but the Big Bay Boom in San Diego, California left citizens wanting more.

The show began promptly at 9:00pm as expected, and about fifteen seconds later, it was over. An unfortunate glitch led to the entire 18 minutes worth of fireworks to launch all at once. A statement from Garden State Fireworks, the firm in charge of the show, states:

We will be working throughout the night to determine what technical problem caused the entire show to be launched in about 15 seconds. We apologize for the brevity of the show and the technical difficulties," the company said in a statement posted on www.bigbayboom.com.

As you can imagine, there were plenty of people who came out, some with young children, and waited for hours to ensure a good spot who walked away angry and disappointed. Check out the video after the break.

Click to continue reading Video: Glitch at San Diego Big Bay Boom sets off 18 minutes of fireworks in 15 seconds

7-inch iPad set to debut in October

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Rumors,

A smaller iPad has been rumored to be arriving for over a year now, aimed to compete with 7-inch tablets like the Kindle Fire. Now, on the heels of the announcement of the Nexus 7 and Surface tablets, both Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal are reporting that sources are indicating that Apple is set to start production on a 7.8-inch iPad with the goal of launching it this October. Unlike the 2012 iPad model, this smaller slate won't be sporting a Retina display as Apple will instead opt for a 1024 x 768 panel to keep costs down. We know, it's another iPad rumor. The difference here, though, is that when you see major outlets like WSJ and Bloomberg reporting it, it's with great confidence. October should also see the debut of the next-generation iPhone as well.

Read More | WSJ via Bloomberg

Apple shows off new Reminders and Notes features in iCloud beta

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Internet, Storage,

Apple released a beta version of the iCloud web interface yesterday for developers to get caught up on the upcoming changes that'll be rolled out to the public this fall. Once logged in, users see beta tags on the Calendar and Find My iPhone app, as well as the addition of the Reminders and Notes apps as well, both in beta. Find My iPhone adds Lost Mode, as well as a battery life indicator for your device, and and we haven't yet found the differences in Calendar yet. Notes and Reminders both provide similar interfaces to what you find in the OS X Mountain Lion and iOS counterparts. Mail, Contacts, and iWork don't show any changes at this point.

Read More | iCloud beta

Netflix streamed over 1 billion hours of video in June

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment, Internet,

We've gotta hand it to Netflix. The company has just announced a pretty major milestone--there were over one billion hours of video content streamed from Netflix in the month of June. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings made the announcement on Facebook, stating that he expects that upcoming Netflix exclusives like House of Cards and Arrested Development season four will help "blow these records away."

Read More | Facebook

Samsung Galaxy S III on sale at Verizon on July 10th

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Google, Handhelds,

While other carriers have released on-sale dates for the Samsung Galaxy S III, Verizon hasn't given any specifics until now. Those waiting for the Galaxy S III to hit big red can now mark the calendar for July 10th, just a week from today. One nice thing about the smartphone on Verizon's network is that it supports its 4G LTE network, so you get all that speedy goodness for the same $199.99 that you'd pay on competing carriers.

Read More | MarketWatch

Apple expected to update iMac line in October, possible Retina display

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Rumors,

Many expected Apple to release an updated iMac during the WWDC 2012 keynote, but the company decided to focus squarely on its Mac notebooks instead as it pertained to hardware. It's now been 427 days since the iMac last saw a refresh, and DigiTimes is reporting that we'll see the new models ship in October. Of course, no one but Apple and its manufacturing partners know all the details, but we've got our fingers crossed that we'll see a Retina display model on store shelves by the time Halloween rolls around. At the very least, expect Ivy Bridge architecture with Mountain Lion as the shipping OS.

Read More | DigiTimes

Windows 8 upgrades will cost $40 for XP, Vista, and Windows 7 users

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Microsoft, PC / Laptop, Software,

The launch of Windows 8 is just around the corner, and Microsoft has finally confirmed upgrade pricing. Users runing Windows XP, Windows Vista, and/or Windows 7 will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just $39.99. That's a big change for Microsoft, as upgrade pricing was previously $99 for Pro OS upgrades, and is a welcome change for consumers. Apple has been releasing major OS updates for under $30 for years now, with Mountain Lion launching later this month for $19.99, and we'd been hoping Microsoft would follow suit and drop the price.

The $40 upgrade fee applies to the digital download. If you prefer a DVD, that'ss run you $69.99 in stores. Also, both of those prices are just for a limited time, running through January 31, 2013. After that, we expect Windows 8 upgrade pricing to double.

Read More | Windows Blog

Beats Electronics acquires MOG music service

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Music, Portable Audio / Video,

The rumors have been swirling for months, and now it's official--Beats Electronics has acquired MOG. Beats Electronics is the force behind the Beats by Dr. Dre headphone line and the Beats Audio profile, while MOG is a fledgling streaming music service that, while popular, has been in an uphill battle against services like Spotify, Rdio, and Rhapsody. The purchase means that Beats Electronics now has an end-to-end solution, controling both the hardware for listening to music, and the service to consume it as well.

Click to continue reading Beats Electronics acquires MOG music service

Read More | USA Today

iPhoto will auto import your MobileMe galleries

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Software,

Apple's MobileMe has been discontinued, but there are still a few stubborn users who have yet to migrate their data. Luckily, Apple is making it as easy as possible. For example, when you launch iPhoto, you'll get a prompt that lets you know that, since MobileMe is gone, the software will grab any photo galleries you had stored on the service and move them to your computer so that you don't lose them. Much better than losing those precious memories simply because you forgot about the deadline, or had Apple's reminder emails hitting your spam folder.

Weekend Reading: Frazz, Doc Savage and Spike Milligan

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Reviews,

To everyone suffering through the summer heat wave, wind and electrical storms and power outages in the U.S., my heart goes out to you. If you’ve still got the internets, here are some things to help ease the pain.

Daniel Best reports on trouble at Oz Comic-Con in Australia this weekend.

With convention season in full swing, the critic Bill Sherman reviews Rob Salkowitz’ Comic-Con And The Business Of Pop Culture, an account of the 2011 Comic Con International in San Diego. “Salkowitz approaches his topic as both a business analyst and a longtime fanboy -- and he shows a commendable breadth of knowledge about both the medium and the somewhat clannish fan culture.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Frazz, Doc Savage and Spike Milligan