Technology

The Challenges Facing a Small Graphic Design Company

image via AllThingsD Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer continues to move the web company forward–this time, with an acquisition of popular blogging platform Tumblr. According to AllThingsD, the Yahoo! board has approved a $1.1 billion acquisition cash deal, set to be announced tomorrow: The Yahoo board has approved a massive $1.1 billion all-cash deal to buy Tumblr. Sources close to the board said the deal was a foregone conclusion and was an unanimous vote by the Silicon Valley Internet giant. The deal will likely be announced Monday morning, said numerous sources. According to sources Mayer has said acquiring Tumblr was going to be “the stake in the ground of what her strategy is going forward for Yahoo,” to attract younger audiences and remain relevant and “cool”. Younger audiences continue to create popular unique generated pages such as Sh!t Siri Says. Tumblr’s mobile usage has ramped up as ComScore notes a quarter of its traffic comes from mobile, helped in large part by its iPhone app. Yahoo continues to ramp up its mobile offerings with recent updates to its mail app, a newly released weather app and also acquiring summary service Summly. The company has previously been reported to be engaged in talks with Apple to play a deeper role within iOS devices. Yahoo! Board Approves $1.1 Billion Deal to Acquire Tumblr is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

Switched On: Hinging on success -

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The announcement of the Acer Aspire R7 was the best example of the company's assertion that it was moving from computers designed with touch to computers designed for touch. But if having a fancy, even unprecedented, hinge is what defines a touch-optimized notebook, Acer is a bit late to the party. Last October, Switched On discussed the role that laptop-tablet hybrids -- namely convertibles and detachables -- would play in the differentiation of Windows 8 devices. Both types have seen their share of support. Detachables have included HP's Envy x2, ASUS' Transformer-inspired VivoTab and Microsoft's Surface. (Dell's XPS 10 is available only with Windows RT.) Filed under: Apple, Microsoft Comments

Filed under: Hybrid, Sedan, Performance, Wagon, BMW, Diesel, Luxury BMW itself says it is making "Precise modifications to the design" of the facelifted, sixth-generation 5 Series, and this is the result. The 2014 5 Series will come in four flavors - sedan, Touring, Gran Turismo and ActiveHybrid 5 - the biggest news probably the addition of a diesel engine for the US market. When they go on sale in August, the 528i sedan will start at $50,425, a $1,700 increase over the 2013 model, and if you want xDrive that adds $2,300 to the price across the model range. The 535d employs a 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline six-cylinder diesel with 255 horsepower and 413 pound-feet of torque and starts at $56,025. BMW portends "substantial fuel efficiency gains over its gasoline-fueled counterpart," but the exact numbers won't come until closer to the on-sale date. The $64,825, top-dog 550i holds pat with 4.4-liter, twin turbo V8, with output upped to 445 hp and 480 lb-ft - an increase of 45 hp and 30 lb-ft of torque. The outputs haven't changed on the twin-turbo four-cylinder in the 528 nor the 3.0-liter six-cylinder gasoline engine in the 535, and *all prices include the $925 destination charge. The engines are also fitted with a coasting mode that uncouples the powertrain when rolling downhill. Outside there are new "contour lines" for the grille and air intakes, slimmer taillights and elements that accentuate the car's width - as if that were necessary. Xenon adaptive headlights will be standard along with side indicator lights on the rearview mirrors, the options list adds LED headlights, the Luxury Line and Modern Line packages. The former package adds chrome trim to certain exterior elements, the latter adds matte chrome trim. Inside will be more storage and more cup holders, additional luggage capacity in the 5 Series GT, an optional rear seat entertainment system that puts tablets on the front seatbacks, and a touchpad iDrive controller. There's a lot more besides which you can read about in the press release and video below, and you can pair words with images in the four high-res galleries above and below.Continue reading 2014 BMW 5 Series starts at $50,425* and gets a new diesel, 5 Series GT starts at $60,925* [w/video]2014 BMW 5 Series starts at $50,425* and gets a new diesel, 5 Series GT starts at $60,925* [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 19 May 2013 17:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Smartphones have made taking panoramic photos easy for even amateur iPhotographers (or photoids). Unfortunately, easy doesn't always mean stellar quality. Panoramic fails have resulted in disembodied heads, extra-long Corgis and funhouse mirror-style bodies. Ouch 1 Image courtesy of Reddit, mcphadenmike 2 Image courtesy of Imgur, ImOnlyMakingAnAccountCuzImDrunk 3. Image courtesy of Imgur, Ftuohy 4 Image courtesy of Imgur, alltheotherstuff 5 Image courtesy of Imgur, IAteAHamSandwich 6 Mashable image 7 Image courtesy of Reddit 8 Image courtesy of Reddit, beardoftestosterone SEE ALSO: 15 Retail Worker Fails Worth a Demotion Read more...More about Lists, Photos, Photography, Apps Software, and Watercooler

Expect an official announcement to hit as early as tomorrow morning — sorry, Flickr updates!

The Weather Network has announced its iPhone and iPad weather apps have surpassed 7 million downloads and says it is one of the few Canadian-owned and operated companies to appear on Apple’s 25 All-Time Free apps in Canada list for 2013: “As a Canadian leader in mobile app development, The Weather Network and MétéoMédia continue to deliver the most innovative and up-to-date weather-related content across a range of mobile platforms,” said Gita Ashar, Director of Mobile Applications and Emerging Technologies at The Weather Network. “We are extremely proud to be one of a handful of Canadian-owned companies to appear on the Top 25 All-Time Free Apps in Canada list.”   Parent company Pelmorex Media Inc. says both their iPhone and iPad versions of the Weather Network receive close to a million active users per day and drives more traffic than their website; during busy weather periods the iPhone app receives 12 million page views per day, or over 200 million per month. Originally released as WeatherEye, the app relaunched itself back in October of 2011 and in 2012 the iPad version of the app topped the Top 25 All-Time Free apps; this year, it ranked second. Even though there’s a plethora of weather apps for the iPhone, The Weather Network app has consistently been one of my go-to apps. What’s your favourite weather app? Click here to download The Weather Network iPhone app–it’s free. The Weather Network iOS App Surpasses 7 Million Downloads is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

DDoS-for-hire service works with blessing of FBI, operator says by @dangoodin001

Sometimes it's important to just take a moment and reflect on life. It can be a real relief to let go of technology for a moment and think about something else. History maybe. And there's no better way to slow down than by taking a walk with an eight-foot-tall, 1,000-pound robot that moves 10-feet per minute. Ahh, how quaint.Read more...