Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Applebee's Just Killed One Of The Most Annoying Things About Eating Out

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/applebees-installs-tablets-in-stores-2013-12

Applebee's Late Night Dining Eating Restaurant

Applebee's is addressing customers' least favorite thing about eating out—waiting for the check. 

The casual restaurant will have tablets in all its stores by the end of 2014, according to a USA Today report. 

Today, the CEO of Applebee's parent DineEquity told CNBC's Carl Quintanilla why the move to tablets was important. 

"Customers have told us 'I don't like to wait for the check,'" Julia Stewart told CNBC

When the tablets are installed, customers will be able to order appetizers and desserts and pay for their meal via the devices. 

Tablets are common in restaurants in Europe and Asia. 

Applebee's is ahead on a trend that will likely become common. 

"Looking out over the next decade, it will become fairly routine for consumers in table service restaurants to use tablets to view menus, place orders and pay bills," Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of research at the National Restaurant Association, told USA Today

The tablets could benefit the company because customers won't walk away annoyed that they had to wait for a check. 

Here's the CNBC interview: 

SEE ALSO: 20 Items Under $20 Everyone Should Own

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This New App Will Let You Stream Cable TV To Your Phone Or Laptop

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-stream-cable-shows-on-nimbletv-2013-12

NimbleTV Review

Beginning today, NimbleTV has launched its new streaming service for New Yorkers.

The service is a cloud-based DVR that lets customers with a cable subscription watch TV on the iPhone, iPad, and all Android gadgets. 

It only works if you already have a cable or satellite subscription. If not, customers can work with NimbleTV's concierge service to create a TV subscription package of their choice that will work with the company's technology.  The available content varies based on the cable providers you choose from though.

You then pay a monthly fee on top of your normal cable fee. This lets you stream cable channels to your device and record shows in a virtual DVR. The plans start at $3.99 per month, but cost more if you want to add more storage space.

NimbleTV is planning to expand nation wide, but wants to hear from community members first before picking its next city.

There's no app to install. Just navigate to NimbleTV's site on your device to get started

Select the location as New York City.



NimbleTV gives you a one-month free trial. You can choose to watch with your existing cable/satellite subscription or sign up for one.



If you don't have currently subscribe to cable, NimbleTV has a concierge service that helps customers create their own packages. The cheapest choice is $29.98 a month, but the plans have access to over 130 channels.



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How To Turn Any Car Into A Smart Car For $100

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/automatic-review-2013-12

Automatic

In this heyday of smart technology, you can buy the equivalent of a FitBit for your car. 

We took Automatic, an app paired with an on-board diagnostics dongle that logs your location, driving habits, and fuel usage to make you smarter on the road, for a test drive.  

Click here to see how Automatic works >>

Just plug the Automatic dongle (called a Link) into your car's OBD port and you'll start getting a bunch of data about your driving logged into the companion app. Much of this data is ultimately meant to help you save money on gas.  

For example, Automatic alerts you by making your phone chirp you when you break roughly, drive 10 or more miles per hour over the speed limit, or accelerate too rapidly. By giving you a heads up about your bad habits, it helps adjust the way that you drive to increase fuel efficiency. Better fuel efficiency means money saved. 

The app gives you a daily and weekly score based on your driving, and compares your logged fuel economy with the EPA's estimated value for whatever car you own. If you're competitive, you'll love the fact that you can track your driving score week-to-week, and that the app will tell you where you rank compared to other Automatic users throughout the country. 

Every time you park, the app also GPS-logs your location, so you never have to search hopelessly for your car in a huge parking lot again. Because the Link is plugged into your OBD port, it can sense when you have engine trouble, and can offer a potential diagnosis. 

Finally, the accelerometer in the Link can sense if you may have gotten into a crash and! Automat ic personnel will alert local authorities. 

Automatic works with Android and iOS, but only on the iPhone 4S and above.

It costs $99.95 and works with most cars made after 1996. You can check if it works with your car here.

First, you've got to connect your Automatic app with your Automatic Link dongle.



It only took my friend and I about five minutes to successfully get our Automatic Link plugged into his car.



And then it took another five minutes or so for the app to sync with the Link.



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Monday, December 09, 2013

The First 64-Bit Snapdragon Processor Won't Be in a Phone You'll Want

Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-first-64-bit-snapdragon-processor-wont-be-in-a-pho-1479862594

The First 64-Bit Snapdragon Processor Won't Be in a Phone You'll Want

Apple started a wave when it announced its new A7 processor--the brain of all its flagship products—would be 64-bit. Competitors have been keen to catch up, and now Qualcomm's making its move with the new Snapdragon 410, the first 64-bit chip in the line. The catch? It's for low and midrange phones.

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This Brilliant Stop Motion Video Only Uses Photos Taken With Google Glass

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-glass-stop-motion-video-2013-12

A team of artists created an awesome stop motion video using hundreds of photos taken with Google Glass, Google's computerized glasses that will publicly launch in 2014.

The Google Glass YouTube account shared the video, which we first saw on Buzzfeed.

This is what Google Glass said in its YouTube introduction of the video below. It also linked to the artist's Google Plus page:

Since the beginning, filmmakers have been telling us how they would use Glass for storytelling. Now that the Explorer Program is underway, there's a lot of directing, producing and exploring happening, and we're inspired. Filmmakers from the Glass Creative Collective, our partnership with top-notch film schools, will be sharing more in the coming months. In the meantime, here's Catch, a short film by our very own +Tu Uthaisri.

Here's the video:

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