Thantzin Thantzin

SXSW Opens in Austin: Pictures

The history of why pi equals 3.14(15926…)

The number represented by pi (π) is used in calculations whenever something round (or nearly so) is involved, such as for circles, spheres, cylinders, cones, and ellipses. Its value is necessary to compute many important quantities about these shapes, such as understanding the relationship between …

President Obama and Misty Copeland Open Up About Race

When Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States, many saw it as the dawn of a new era of American race relations. During his …

10 Green + Gold Rooms to Envy This St. Patty’s Day

You don’t have to wait until St. Patrick’s Day to show your love for all things green — emerald has been hot in the interior world since Pantone declared it the Color of the Year in 2013. And when paired with its brassy BFF, the duo of hues is pretty much unstoppable. Whether you’re going for a few …

Me on a bridge

Books to Read This Spring That Will Make You More Productive

<b>How to Have a Good Day: Harness the Power of Behavioral Science to Transform Your Working Life,</b> by Caroline Webb<p>The title <i>How to Have a Good Day</i> might …

Samsung's See-Through Trucks Hit the Road in Argentina

Cameras, freight trucks, and Samsung screens come together to make passing on narrow roads less dangerous.<p>Big trucks may play an enormous role in helping us maintain the comforts of modern life, but sometimes they're awfully slow (or you're awfully impatient) and you need to get around them. That's …

Samsung’s ‘transparent truck’ hits the road in Argentina (VIDEOS)

A transparent ‘Safety Truck’ is set for testing on Argentinian roads, after Samsung completed months of experiments. It enables car drivers trailing …

Samsung Gear VR users can mingle on AltspaceVR

Samsung Gear VR users can start making friends in a virtual reality world now that AltspaceVR has released its app for the headset to the public. In fact, they can mix and mingle not only with other Gear VR users, but also with people who use the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift*. You can think of …

Apple tells Supreme Court not to hear Samsung’s patent trial appeals

We have more Apple and Samsung lawsuit news, and we all know what that means. After years of legal battling, the two companies have finally decided …

Tim Cook: Apple Music on Android is just the beginning

If you’re an Android user with a certain acquired taste for some of Apple‘s services and were surprised, even elated, at the recent Apple Music app …

This new carrier puts two phone numbers on your iPhone

Mast Mobile makes juggling a personal and professional line much easier<p>If you've ever tried to juggle two phone numbers, say a personal line and a professional line, you know how difficult and clumsy it can be. You could carry two phones around, one for your work line and one for your personal …

Tango’s New CEO Takes Its Struggling Messaging App Back To Basics

Tango’s new CEO isn’t wasting any time making changes to reverse the declining fortunes of the messaging app company. Co-founder Eric Setton, who made the jump from Tango CTO to CEO one month ago, announced this week that the company is splitting its service into two to rediscover the core chat …

The Week in Review: Zika Virus Spreads

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Zika virus a “public health emergency” this week after previously saying the virus was “spreading explosively” in the Americas. WHO health officials estimated three to four million people across North and South America could be infected by the end of …

Sony’s Xperia Marshmallow concept launcher has been ported, here’s our hands-on [Video]

Over the past few months, Sony has been testing various concept software, offering it up to Xperia owners as part of a limited public beta test. One XDA Developers member was able to port the home launcher and release it as a downloadable APK which works on any Android device with Lollipop or …

THE WIRELESS CARRIERS REPORT: Industry shake-ups, ripple effects across mobile, and the big changes ahead

The wireless industry is in a state of flux. AT&T and Verizon have dominated the carrier market over the past seven years while T-Mobile and Sprint have struggled to gain subscribers. Then in 2013, T-Mobile tweaked its strategy to turn around its business.<p>This move, along with slowing smartphone …

5 Topics for Republican Debate No. 8

Seven of the Republican presidential candidates will meet Saturday night for the final debate before Tuesday’s voting in New Hampshire. The electorate in New Hampshire contrasts from the more conservative Iowa, where Sen. Ted Cruz captured the first place finish, followed by Donald Trump and Sen. …

Lumia 650 Leaks Tease Last Lumia Windows Phone

Usually, teasing any new Lumia Windows Phone is enough to stir joy in those dedicated to using the company’s Windows 10 operating system with a …

Improved call quality coming to Hangouts for Android via peer-to-peer connection

Improved Hangouts is one of the most common requests from Android users. According to a rumor late last year, Google is working on making it a better chat client by removing SMS capabilities. It now appears that as a part of that Hangouts will use a peer-to-peer connection when possible.<p>Last week, …

28 ways to get your kids involved in the Super Bowl

The big game is here. But good luck even enjoying the commercials, because you have kids.<p>Managing nachos and your toddler doesn’t have to be a …

Google launches Android Studio 2.0 beta with Cold Swap, app indexing improvements, and multi-touch support

Google has released Android Studio 2.0 beta, the latest version of its integrated development environment (IDE). Until now, preview releases were available in the Canary channel, but Android Studio 2.0 has been promoted to the Beta channel.<p>In November, Google unveiled Android Studio 2.0, the second …

Almost everything about Microsoft's rumoured 'last Lumia' smartphone has leaked

The 650 is expected to be the last Lumia-branded device that Microsoft makes. The Lumia name came from Nokia, which Microsoft acquired for $7.2 billion (£5 billion) in 2013.<p>Details about the hardware of the Lumia 650 leaked when a British phone retailer, Mobile Fun, posted the phone onto its …

AltspaceVR Social Platform Launches On Samsung Gear VR

Virtual reality can sometimes appear like it’s a pretty isolating platform. Visually, people experiencing VR certainly aren’t in the most approachable position and right now the tech is new enough that it rarely seems accessible to those who are vaguely curious.<p>That being said, there are plenty of …

Bing's big mobile search update comes to Android

Last fall, Microsoft rolled out a major update to its Bing app for the iPhone. The big change was the realization that searching on a smartphone usually means you want immediate answers to questions while you're out and about, so Bing put all the data from its Knowledge and Action Graph right up …

Samsung thinks giant screens on the backs of trucks will make highways safer

It's sunset, sometime in the near future.<p>You've been driving on the highway for the last eight hours, and your back is aching. You can hear soft snores wafting from the backseat. You can see headlamps from an oncoming car briefly illuminate your children's faces in the rear-view mirror.<p>Then you …

This is VAIO's Windows phone

Microsoft’s Windows Mobile initiative is on the ropes, but no-one seems to have told Japan — the country has already seen more new phones running Windows 10 than ever came out here with Windows Phone 7 or 8. And the latest entrant to the fray is VAIO, the company formed when Sony spun off its …

Watch how much money Apple, Google and Facebook are making every single second

Tech companies are making a helluva lot of money. In fact, in terms of market capitalization Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft and Facebook are now all beating their closest competitors: the oil companies.<p>Yes, tech is bigger than oil, and you can see just how much money these companies are making every …