Lots of interesting geek news today and vendors, retailers, and manufacturers kick off the 2nd quarter of 2013. With the interesting slate of new products and technologies, we’re sure to see some big hits come out of this roundup.
Google YouTube shutdown announced
Google reminded us today that YouTube was and has always been a contest. As the experiment comes to an eight-year close, Google announced that they will shut down YouTube and decide who has made the best video, and hence will be crowned the winner.
YouTube has over 30,000 technicians working tirelessly to narrow down all the YouTube submissions that have come in over the past eight years. The judges will then spend the next decade discussing which video should ultimately win. Tomorrow, at midnight, the site will be shut down and all of its content will be permanently deleted. YouTube won’t be resurrected until 2023, at which point the only video on the site will be the winner of this competition. That said, the winner won’t be chosen for another decade, but you can watch the first 12 hours of judging live-streamed from YouTube’s L.A. offices tomorrow.
Google introduces Google Nose
In other Google news, Google announced today the introduction of Google Nose. Just Google your favorite scent and click the “smell” button and sniff away.
If it doesn’t work right away, just lean closer and keep on sniffin’ — like many a Google product that came before it, this one is in Beta, so it might not work every time.
Google Android Developer Console improvements rolled out today
Google today rolled out a new and improved Android Developer console with more meaningful statistics and a much improved apk build process.
UK retailer, Bathstore, introduces new vertical bathtub
UK retailer Bathstore announced today the availability of their new vertical bathtub.
“We all like a good soak, but with modern living spaces getting smaller and smaller we wanted to find a way to still ensure you could fit a bath in even the tiniest bathroom. Once we had the basic design down we tested a series of prototypes and eventually struck on the idea of including air-holes at head-height. We still don’t recommend adding bubbles; it can get very foamy in there.”
Microsoft redesign of Bing interface looks eerily familiar
Microsoft today rolled out a UI interface retrofit of their popular Bing search service and the result looks eerily familiar to us.
Virgin announces new “glass bottom” plane for new route to Scotland
Virgin announced today a new “glass bottom” plane to be used for their new route to Scotland. Window seat flyers no longer have to endure uncomfortable stares from other passengers and can now have the side window all to themselves as the aisle row now offers the best in-flight view.
Twitter announces new business model –paid service to cost $5 per month
Twitter announced today that it finally has its business model ironed out. For only $5 a month, you will be able to use the “premium” version of Twitter that includes vowels. Message length will also be expanded to 141 characters. Here is Twitter’s official release:
“Starting today, we are shifting to a two-tiered service: Everyone can use our basic service,Twttr, but you only get consonants. For five dollars a month, you can use our premium “Twitter” service which also includes vowels.
We’re doing this because we believe that by eliminating vowels, we’ll encourage a more efficient and “dense” form of communication. We also see an opportunity to diversify our revenue stream.”
Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, agrees to join Microsoft and head Windows 9 project
Windows users everywhere breathe a sigh of relief today as hope for a better Windows future appears to now be on the horizon. Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux and champion of free and open source software, has finally called it a day and has agreed to join Microsoft as the project head of the upcoming Windows 9 project. Linus will be working on a new Kernel design for Microsoft that will make the usually vulnerable Windows OS, virtually impossible to be infected by users and malware. In addition, Torvalds will wok on a new “unified” Windows 9 interface, one that will work equally well on computers, laptops, tablets, phones, game consoles, televisions, automobile interfaces, and kitchen appliances.
Apple announces new Mac OS XX Lioness OS built for women
Acting on research that indicates women are making more technology purchases, today, Apple made a surprise announcement of its latest operating system dubbed Mac OS XX Lioness. Lioness will include a new screen perspective, one that renders the display to appear at a backward-tilting angle requiring the user lean in to work regardless of the user’s position. In an effort to further close its system architecture, Lioness will no longer offer USB compatibility and thus, dongles and forking are both forbidden. CEO Tim Cook noted that men are certainly welcome to use Lioness but noted that the OS works better with desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones than with head-mounted displays.
