Almost two months to the day since Barnes & Noble launched its Samsung-developed 7-inch Galaxy Tab 4 Nook tablet, a new larger-screen incarnation has now been unveiled .
Launching at what it calls a ‘special introductory price’ of $299.99, the tablet is available from today in more than 650 Barnes & Noble bookstores across the US, as well as online through Barnes & Noble and nookom .
It’s pretty much on feature-parity with its smaller form-factored predecessor, but weighs in at 17.28 ounces (about double that of its first device).
It sports a 3MP rear-facing camera and a 1.3MP front-facing incarnation, which won’t win any awards, and a 1200×800 (149ppi) HD screen. But it has been given a storage boost, with 16GB now available compared to just 8GB of the previous version. As before, you can extend this up to 64GB with a microSD card.
While the 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook was available in black or white, the larger model is only available in black.
The US book giant announced it was no longer making its own Nook tablets last year, electing to rely on partners such as Samsung instead. Though it will continue to build its own dedicated e-readers in-house.
➤ Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook 10.1
Of course someone’s made a Keurig for weed
We knew technology would come to this: There’s now a Keurig for marijuana in the works.
CannaKorp is building a machine that lets you put weed pods into a device, and vaporizes it for your consumption. There will be a selection of pods available with different pre-measured marijuana types, and everything is ready to consume in just 60 seconds.
The CannaCloud is expected to cost around $149, and the Boston Globe reports that it is slated to arrive around “early next year.” That’s pretty reasonable considering a Keurig for chai tea that launched last week is asking for $249.
As you may have expected, it will only ship to states where marijuana is legalized. Massachusetts, where CannaKorp is headquartered, will vote on marijuana legalization this November.
If passed, Massachusetts is expected to see a huge increase in tax collections on weed sales. In Colorado and Washington, where both recreational and medical sales of marijuana is lawful, the Globe reports that each state sees upward of $900 million in tax collections in 2015 alone.
“We’re a company that’s medically oriented,” CannaKorp said. “However, we know that the recreational market is going to go crazy over this, and we like that.”
‘Crazy’ is putting it lightly.
Oivo hits Kickstarter with a tiny iPhone charger powered by four AA batteries
Increasing screen size, RAM, or storage capacity hasn’t been a problem for smartphone vendors in recent years, though we can’t say the same about battery life, which is often a problem for many users and hasn’t increased in line with our increasing reliance on these devices..
The problem of smartphone batteries dying at the most inappropriate moment has been tackled by numerous companies, from small to big, and there are quite a few solutions on the market. Most of them are power banks of different forms and sizes, which are either bulky or unable to fully charge your gadget.
That’s where Oivo comes in, a Slovenian startup offering an elegant solution for those who drain their iPhone’s battery too fast.
The $39 gadget that the startup is raising money on Kickstarter for is basically a power bank for iPhone with four standard AA batteries, but it’s not bulky at all and is intended to be used as a key fob.
The charger consists of two halves, between which the batteries can be installed. When being used, the gadget seems to fit the palm quite comfortably so that user can make calls or browse the Internet. In addition to that, Oivo works as a stand in both portrait and landscape orientation.
The main element of the gadget are 10 strong neodymium magnets that keep the two halves of the charger together. Oivo’s team claims the magnets are perfectly safe for both the iPhone and any credit cards that happen to be in its vicinity.
The team behind the project says Oivo charges an iPhone as fast as any AC charger. A set of normal Duracell alkaline batteries would bring your iPhone up to about 50 percent, while a lithium GP is enough to fully charge the smartphone.
With a built-in Lightning connector, Oivo works with iPhone 5, 5s, and 5c, and the team claims it will be compatible with the upcoming ‘iPhone 6’ (or whatever it ends up being called). We’ll reserve judgment on that until the new phone is actually released, though.
There’s no Android version on offer yet, though the team suggests those who would like to see it make a “symbolic pledge of $2,” adding that it might offer a Micro USB version of the charger as a stretch goal.
Oivo’s team, based in Ljubljana, Slovenia, says that shipments will start in December 2014 so backers should be able to receive the charger before Christmas.
➤ Oivo [Kickstarter]