Technology and Body

Amazon is always looking for ways to boost the numbers of Amazon Prime customers, whether that’s by holding a Black Friday-like “Prime Day” sales event or bundling in subscriptions alongside Amazon hardware, as it attempted with the launch of its own Fire Phone devices. This morning, the online retailer has a new gimmick – its dropping the price for Amazon Prime to just $67 in a one-day sale starting on Friday, September 25th at 12:01 AM ET, and ending at 11:59 PM PT. The company says the sale will last for only 24 hours, as it’s a limited time offer. Why $67, you ask? The figure is in reference to Amazon’s five Emmy wins at this year’s 67th PrimeTime Emmy Awards, the company says – and this is its way of celebrating. Amazon’s Original Series “Transparent” saw its star Jeffrey Tambor taking home the trophy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, while “Transparent” creator Jill Soloway won for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. The ...

Uber has introduced its carpooling program, Uber Pool, in India in its latest move to grow its presence in the world’s second most populous country. The service is initially being piloted in Bengaluru, which becomes the sixth city worldwide for the Uber Pool service but the first in India. The move is indicative of Uber’s aspirations for its role in the India, a market where it claims to be experiencing 40 percent month-on-month growth. It looks like the company just beat rival Ola, the SoftBank-backed domestic ride-sharing firm which is currently raising $500 million, to the punch. TechCrunch understands from sources that Ola’s own carpooling service — Ola Pool update: the service will be called Ola Share — will launch next week. While Uber Pool is starting out in one city, Ola Pool will be in an initial five cities, allowing customers there to split fares and share cabs. Although it’s clear Uber hopes the introduction of the service in...

A Twitter account in the hands of a hothead startup founder can be a dangerous thing. The New York Times ran a piece Sunday looking into why a 62-year-old pill saw its price skyrocket from $13.50 to nearly $750 after it was acquired by Turing Pharmaceuticals last month. The increase in the price of Daraprim, a drug that the Times reported “is the standard of care for treating a life-threatening parasitic infection,” will undoubtedly have a major impact on those struggling to keep up with high prescription drug costs. The article continued: Dr. Aberg of Mount Sinai said some hospitals will now find Daraprim too expensive to keep in stock, possibly resulting in treatment delays. She said that Mount Sinai was continuing to use the drug, but each use now required a special review. “This seems to be all profit-driven for somebody,” Dr. Aberg said, “and I just think it’s a very dangerous process.” It was apparent that the news regarding Daraprim ...

How Android went from being a flailing startup to world's biggest computing platform Must read story An illustration of Andy Rubin In 2004, Andy Rubin made an urgent call to his friend, Steve Perlman. Rubin's startup, Android, was in trouble, he explained. Rubin didn't like asking for money again, but the situation was dire. Android, which was creating mobile software for phones, was out of cash, and other investors weren't biting. Perlman agreed to wire some funds as soon as possible. "Maybe a little sooner would be better," Rubin said nervously. Rubin had already missed payments on Android's office space, and the landlord was threatening to evict him. Perlman went to the bank and withdrew $10,000 in $100 bills and handed them to Rubin. The next day, he wired over an undisclosed amount of money to provide the seed funding for Android. "I did it because I believed in the thing, and I wanted to help Andy," Perlman told Bu...

Uber is testing a new kind of carpooling service after it announced UberCommute, a service that will be piloted first in China. The news comes weeks after UberChina closed a $1.2 billion funding round. The U.S. ride-sharing firm already allows carpooling with its ride on-demand service. That’s Uber Pool (known as Uber+ in China), an offering that allows two or more Uber passengers who are headed to the same destination to share a ride and thus save money on their trip. UberCommute is different, however, as it is designed for carpooling only. Here’s how Uber describes its latest offering, which is initially operating in Chinese city Chengdu — a place Uber said is its “number one city in the world”: Drivers sign into the app and tell Uber where they are going. We then show them requests from riders who are traveling in the same direction as well as the pay...

Access iCloud more easily iCloud has never been the easiest cloud storage service to actually get at (most of what it does happens behind the scenes) but iOS 9 makes it a little more visible: Go to Settings, iCloud then iCloud Drive and toggle the switch marked Show on Home Screen to enable the icon shortcut. End battery woes iOS 9 wants to ease your battery life woes with a new low-power mode that you can activate from the Battery menu inside Settings (it switches off a few background processes and can add up to an hour of life). Your battery icon turns yellow and you get a percentage view of the juice that's left. Abandon poor Wi-Fi connections The new Wi-Fi Assist feature in iOS9 lets you hop onto a speedy LTE connection if the Wi-Fi connection you're using isn't up to scratch (quite likely if you're out and about). Head to Settings then Cellular and tap on the Wi-Fi Assist toggle switch at the bottom to make use of the feature. Zoom in on ...

SHOULD YOU BUY IT? The iPhone 6S Plus comes in 16GB ($749), 64GB ($849) and 128 GB ($949) storage options. Considering the kind of content the iPhone 6S Plus can create, it would be insane to buy the 16GB model. For many, 64GB might seem like overkill, but if you plan on shooting 4K video -- any 4K video -- you may wonder why you didn’t spring for the 128GB model. From design to construction to software to camera, the iPhone 6S Plus is a high-quality device. It has ample power to run everything from endless Safari tabs to video and intense 3D games. A 6.23-inch-tall device may be on the large side for some people, but for those who prize a larger display and prosumer-level photographic and video power, they can’t go wrong with the iPhone 6S Plus. Is it a must-have upgrade? No, unless you must have gorgeous 4K video and can't live without the innovative 3D Touch. By sheer volume, iOS 9 probably adds more feature enhancements than the iPhone 6S Plus, and you can get it ...