big

Twitter's latest buy: Big data startup Lucky Sort

Twitter's shopping spree shows no signs of letting up. Today, the social-networking giant said that it has acquired big data startup Lucky Sort.

Lucky Sort CEO Noah Pepper said in a blog post that his company's "goal was to make huge document sets easier to analyze, summarize, and visualize by building elegant and user-friendly tools for text analysis."

Neither Twitter nor Lucky Sort said precisely how the startup will be integrated into Twitter's larger plans, but Pepper said in his post that several members of his team would be moving to San Francisco to become … Read more

PSB Image T6: A high-end tower speaker at an affordable price

PSB Speakers is one of my all-time favorite brands. Its little Alpha B1 monitor ($299 a pair) is excellent, and a couple of years ago I was blown away by the Imagine Mini ($759 a pair), an even smaller but bona fide high-end speaker.

Small speakers are great, but the lucky folks with huge living rooms who like to occasionally play movies and music nice and loud need big speakers. And since it's been a while since I spent quality time with a PSB tower I requested a pair of Image T6s ($1,298 a pair).

The 40.… Read more

Big Buttons Keyboard Standard 1.8.1 Review

You've got plenty of options when it comes to virtual keyboard apps for your Android device, including some far-out concepts, but we always come back to those layouts with the most familiar look and feel. Big Buttons Keyboard Standard is a free Android app by Chicago Logics based on their Delta II mobile keyboard technology. With a modified QWERTY layout (and other choices) as well as options like click sound, vibrate on tap, and a resizable keypad, it kicks other keyboards' buttons. We tried it on a Samsung Galaxy S3 running Android 4.4.1.

When you install and … Read more

What did the Big Bang sound like? Take a listen

John Cramer, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Washington in Seattle, has created a high-fidelity rendition of the sound of the Big Bang and the noise generally believed to have accompanied the early development of the universe.

This is the second attempt for Cramer, who in 2003 generated a 100-second recording representing sound from between 380,000 years to 760,000 years after the Big Bang. Cramer updated his recordings with new, more detailed data produced last month from the European Space Agency's Planck satellite mission.

Jawbone offers 2.0 software update for Big Jambox

In the past, Jawbone has provided firmware updates for its Jambox mini portable Bluetooth speaker to improve performance and add new features. Now its larger wireless speaker, the Big Jambox, gets its own 2.0 software update today.

The 2.0 update is a free download that's available on Jawbone's MyTalk platform (you have to register and install software on your computer to receive the update). According to Jawbone, here's an overview of the new features:

Better audio experience: New AAC support for iOS 6.1 delivers improved audio streaming with fewer dropouts and interruptions at greater … Read more

The 404 1,231: Where time is brain (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Check out our interview with B.O.B. and Big Boi for their new game, "Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel."

- Mico headphones let your brainwaves choose the music.

- Google Images adds filters for animated GIFs.

- Detroit doctors link garbled texting as first sign of a stroke.… Read more

How loud do you listen to music and movies?

How loud is loud? I know loud when I hear it, but if you want a number, I'd say at home anything over 90 dB is getting up there, and might annoy neighbors in adjacent apartments, especially after 10 p.m. If you live in a house, 90+ dB would definitely disturb other family members not watching the movie or listening to music. Of course, the volume at concerts and movie theaters is much, much louder than most people would ever tolerate at home. Loud music, games, and home theater takes on an almost physical quality; you don't … Read more

BigDog robot plays catch with concrete blocks

The last time we checked in on Boston Dynamics, its "robot bison" was busy demonstrating what it could do out in the field. And we were impressed.

Today we get to see a different kind of robot animal in action. I'll give you a hint on the type: fetch!

Awww... who's a good boy? The robot on display in the video is BigDog, a DARPA-funded all-terrain cyber-canine meant for military use. It can tackle slopes up to 35 degrees, rubble, snow, mud, and water, and can carry a 340-pound load. Boston Dynamics writes of the monster dog's latest trick: … Read more

Microsoft's little-screen, big-screen interactive future

Giant interactive surfaces will complement the more mobile variety of today. That's how Microsoft sees the future.

Walk up to a massive interactive screen with a Surface tablet, tap it, and, voila, now you're working on the big screen. Or project your Windows phone screen onto a larger surface.

The point of "Microsoft's Future Vision: Live, Work, Play" (see below), a concept video that describes how we'll live in five to ten years, is that there is fluid interaction between touch surfaces and devices of all sizes.

The video debuted as the company opened … Read more

'Big Bang' star Cuoco caught in the Dish-CBS crossfire

"The Big Bang Theory" star Kaley Cuoco doesn't mind making a few extra dollars endorsing products. Tweeting an ad to her 1.2 million Twitter followers is an easy way to pick up some spare change. Just as long as she isn't tweeting at Dish Network's behest about its ad-skipping Hopper DVR.

As first reported by The Wrap, Cuoco, or her representatives, deleted the following tweet after The Wrap inquired about it: "Amazing! Watching live TV anywhere on the #Hopper looks pretty awesome! Now where can I find a tiny beer? #ad."

Dish … Read more