The hottest smartphone maker in China is now selling gorgeous TV sets for dirt cheap

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/xiaomi-is-now-selling-dirt-cheap-tvs-2015-3

Xiaomi has made quite a name for itself by selling high-end products at dirt cheap prices. But if you thought its phones and tablets were cheap, wait until you see Xiaomi's Mi TV 2, a 40-inch Android-powered smart TV that costs just a paltry $320.

There's a lot to love about the TV's specs, which includes a Sharp-built monitor and fast, powerful chips to handle the Android-based OS. It also supports all kinds of video and gaming formats, it's super thin, and you can even buy it with one of several bright candy-colored casings, which are both fun and reminiscent of the company's colorful tablet lineup.

But again, there's no beating that $320 price point for this brand of television. You can find 40-inch TVs at retailers like Best Buy and B&H around that same price point, but they're all extremely basic in terms of features, and don't include any of the internet-related capabilities you'd find in any smart TV.

In February, Xiaomi announced it would start selling products in the US this year, with the exception being its popular line of smartphones and tablets. Hopefully the company considers stocking these cute, ultra-cheap TVs on this side of the Pacific Ocean.

We first heard about these new Xiaomi TVs over ! at Gizmodo. Check out more photos below.

 

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Ruelala founder raises $14 million to launch the Warby Parker of beautiful Italian shoes, M.Gemi

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/mgemi-raises-14-million-to-make-affordable-italian-shoes-2015-3

Ben Fischman, founder of flash sale fashion site Ruelala, has raised a $14 million seed and series A round for a new startup, M.Gemi.

M.Gemi launched Tuesday to make beautiful Italian shoes more affordable for international markets — like American shoppers. Fishman says hand-crafted shoes made in Italian factories often cost $500 to $2,000. M.Gemi's cost between $98 and $300. 

Investors include General Catalyst, which also invested in Ruelala, Forerunner Ventures and Breakaway Ventures.

M.Gemi sells items from small Italian specialty factories straight to consumers. Cutitng out traditional retailers like Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus keeps the price of the shoes down.

"Rather than being a wholesaler, we’re more efficient from an expense perspective [than other shoe companies] so a factory sells products to us and they can make their margin, yet we're still able to sell at a lower price point," Fischman tells Business Insider.

Another selling point Fischman promotes is that his shoes are crafted so that fit and comfort are consistant. M.Gemi sent two pairs of pumps over to Business Insider to try on. They were 3- to 4-inch heels and even though the styles were totally different, they felt similar to wear. A size 37 strappy sandle fit roughly the same as a size 37 bootie.

"Built on 'formas' that shape the toe, heel and pitch of each shoe, M.Gemi footwear is consistent from shoe-to-shoe," M.Gemi boasts. "Once a client finds a fit she likes, she can shop for more styles in the same forma, and not think twice about size. While styles will constantly change, fit will not."

Fast-fashion is also something M.Gemi will capitalize on. Stores like H&M and Zara have made big businesses out of noting what's in style now and getting similar items in stores quickly. M.Gemi will note what's on trend and produce the shoes rapidly; Fischman says it takes his team 60 to 90 days from concept to online retail. If a shoe sells out on the site, more pairs can be ordered and live again within 30 days. Only a few shoes will be available on M.Gemi at a time. Every week, new shoe styles will be released.

Fischman left Ruelala two years ago, following a $350 million sale to GSI Communications, then another later sale to eBay. Fischman spent a year traveling across Italy closing factory partnerships for M.Gemi and launching an Italy office. 

"It's quite similar to a Warby Parker model," Fischman says. Only he thinks shoes will be a better business than glasses. "We’re selling a product we believe will lead to a lot of repeat purchasing versus products you need occasionally."

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Twitch, the video game streaming site Amazon bought for $970 million, has been hacked (AMZN)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/twitch-got-hacked-2015-3

Game streaming website Twitch, which Amazon bought in August for $970 million, has been hacked. The service posted an update on its site saying something may have gained “unauthorized access” to user account information. 

“For your protection,” the post reads, “we have expired passwords and stream keys and have disconnected accounts from Twitter and YouTube.”

The company reached out to potentially affected users to let them know that information such as password, email address, user name, home address, phone number, and date of birth may have been compromised, the Wall Street Journal reports. 

Twitch hasn’t disclosed how many accounts were compromised or the duration of the attack.

Last August Twitch was hacked by the activist hacker group Lizard Squad, following news of its acquisition by Amazon. That attack, however, merely took the website offline and did not require password resets.  

It’s likely the company’s immense user growth piqued the interest of hackers. In 2012 the company reported 20 million monthly unique viewers. That stat has now skyrocketed to over 100 million monthly uniques. 

Twitch declined to comment beyond what it wrote in the initial blog post.

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Article: Android’s Smart On-Body Unlock Function Could Eliminate A Longtime Headache

Android users are beginning to see an option for on-body detection in version 5.0 and up, which lets you unlock your device once, and then have that unlock grant you continued access without having to re-enter your pin, so long as the smartphone or tablet never leaves your person. It's just a con...

http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/22/androids-smart-on-body-unlock-function-could-eliminate-a-longtime-headache/

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drag2share: Hone your drum machine skills with an HTML5 808

source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/20/html5-drum-machine-808-909/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

For the aspiring DJs and living room producers, there's now a way to craft your drum machine chops with nothing more than your favorite web browser. An HTML5-driven site lets you choose between iconic instruments like Roland's TR-808 and TR-909, alongside Elektron's Machinedrum, the LinnDrum and a regular ol' acoustic kit for the luddites. In addition to turning nobs to get the perfect sound, you can save samples for use during your next studio session. What's more, when you're all finished, the site allows you to export loops as a WAV file that can be employed in a more robust production app. If you'll recall, there's also a web-based MPC that'll let you try your hand at piecing together samples used by J Dilla and Kanye West. With these two tools in your browser, there's really no excuse for not exploring that music habit.

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drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

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