Believe it or not, we don’t cover every piece of tech news here at SnapMunk. In an effort to keep you apprised of all things relevant (and damn entertaining) in the world of technology and startups, here are some noteworthy tech news items that didn’t get a full column this week but certainly deserve a glance.
Google Glass Disappears From Social Media – Remember when Google Glass was going to be the next big thing? Everyone and their mom was going to be wearing smart glasses. Unfortunately, like many other Google projects (Google+, Google Wave, etc.), Google Glass sucked. And so Google decided to send it to that great server room in the sky: this week they made it “official” by deleting all associated social media accounts.
Image via Wikipedia.com
B.o.B Starts A Rap War With Neil DeGrasse Tyson. This kind of thing could only happen in our increasingly moronic social media culture. Rap artist B.o.B took to Twitter to inform people that the Earth is actually flat. Neil DeGrasse Tyson rained on his parade with actual science and facts. B.o.B. responded by releasing a diss track. Tyson’s nephew, who is also a rap artist, responded with a diss track of his own. Tyson then went on “The Nightly Show” and gave B.o.B. a thorough beat down. The fact that this is even a story proves that the apocalypse is nigh.
Image via Pitchfork.com
Periscope Now Integrating With GoPro. This is awesome on so many levels. Periscope, the popular live streaming service owned by Twitter, is now integrating with certain GoPro cameras. Imagine being able to watch your friend ski down a tough slope, or watch a Red Bull athlete cliff dive, or watch someone fly a drone over a volcano. The opportunities really are endless here.
Image via CNET
Facebook About To Launch “Reactions”. We’ve all had the somewhat awkward experience of “liking” someone’s bad news on Facebook. We want to show them we care, so we like the post, but we don’t really like it, and it’s all so confusing. Facebook is going to clear up the confusion in the upcoming weeks by allowing users to post “reactions”. Those reactions will be Like, Love, Haha, Yay, Wow, Sad, and Angry. Do we really need a “Haha” reaction? Have we stooped that low as a society?
Image via Creativity-online.com
Flash Will Be Dead In Two Years. The end is finally near. Flash only made up 6% of all video in 2015, down from 21% in 2014. Most likely it will be fully eliminated within two years. The leading video codec is H.264, making up 72% of online video, with Web M expected to be the next in line.
Image via CNN.com
Google Wants To Enhance Your Experience Of Political Debates. If Donald Trump isn’t going to be in the next Republican debate, maybe Google can make the debate more enjoyable. Google is enhancing its algorithm to show prior quotes, photos, and social messages from the candidates, while they engage in a live debate. Because, you know, if ain’t on Twitter, it ain’t real…
Image via LifeHacker.com
Circuit City Ready For A Triumphant Comeback. Back in the day, Circuit City used to be the place to go for all your tech needs, whether it was a sweet new Walkman or a screaming Gateway 486 computer. Then, like Radioshack, Circuit City fell on hard times and filed for bankruptcy in 2008. But like an awkward, nerdy phoenix rising from the ashes, Circuit City is coming back. A new ownership group is opening a store in Dallas in June, and hopes to have 50-100 corporate locations plus 100-200 franchise locations. Time to break out my stonewashed jeans and Starter jacket.
Image via Genius.com
The DeLorean Is Going To Be Back In Production. Great Scott! The DeLorean Motor Company is back in action, and will begin producing the car that Back To The Future made so famous. Only 300 or so will be made to start, with production starting at one car per month, eventually increasing to one per week. And it’s not going to be cheap; the estimated price tag is $100,000. I’m not sure how Marty McFly would feel about that price tag.
Image via Wikipedia.com
Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments!
Stephen Altrogge is a freelance writer based in Tallahassee, Florida. He writes about tech, marketing, faith, and lots of other things. He’s married to Jen and has three young girls. Every day he consumes more coffee than the entire population of Colombia. He knows more about Star Wars than any respectable man should, and he runs more than any sane man would. He once attempted to eat a 2 pound hamburger in under an hour. He failed.
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LOL – how can you go wrong with a rapping Neil Tyson? Classic.
So far, it seems that everyone is really liking the new options for Facebook. The “reactions” are being used in many different ways and that is a surprise to me.
Google Glass went away and seemingly never came back. I think that might be the first “fail” for Google, right?
I am really bummed that I have not seen this feature recently. I really liked to come here, get a tech summary for the week and go about my day.
GoPro has really started to make a name for itself. The issue I have with the new cameras is that their are not enough features with the new models. It just does not make any sense. They should be upgrading ALL features with new models, but maybe the company is taking a page from Apple’s book of innovation?
LOL, great video guys! I really look forward to the next one.
Do the videos still get uploaded on a regular basis?
You know, GoPro is trying really hard as a company, but I am not sure they have the management to bring the ship around. It just seems like the company is flat and even when they release a new product the stock just sits around at the same price. The product seems great, there just has to be more.
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I think it will be totally awesome to see the DeLorean back on the streets.
Hell yeah and these days, the car should just drive around with flaming tire tracks every place that it goes 🙂
Google Glass is a weird one. How come when it first came out it seemed like something from the future? In the end, it was something that did not have any future.
That is true and I really wonder why Google stopped the development so quickly. The company seems to hit gold with whatever they make, but the Glass was different. Was it just not something you would see on the streets?
I thought Google Glass was dead a long time ago. Or maybe it was and Google is just getting around to removing all trace that it was even an idea to begin with.
Wasnt Periscope + GoPro Streaming available last year? I thought the app for iOS was updated last July for this integration. I might be wrong. Also, I missed the news about Google Glass. Well, nothing wrong with failing fast, right?
Things like a partnership with Periscope might be the only things that help GoPro these days. The company is tanking even though they have one of the best, mobile, action cameras on the market.