Digital Life

In their effort to make their animations seem more realistic, the Next Media team models various facial expressions it will use in a piece. These are models of singer Leslie Cheung.

Arts

For Taiwanese News Animators, Funny Videos Are Serious Work

1:17pm January 29, 2014

by Elise Hu

The studio responsible for bizarre viral videos featuring 3-D animations of the news is more serious than you'd think. Go behind the scenes at the Taipei-based Next Media Animation to find out why this fast-moving — and controversial — company says it's charting the future of news.

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The oPhone was on display at Wired's annual conference in London in October.

You've Got Mail, And It Smells Like 18th Century Paris

1:17pm January 29, 2014

by NPR Staff

The oPhone device (the "o" is for olfactory) will be able to send and receive whiffs of preprogrammed aromas remotely. Created by a Harvard professor, it's intended to add the sense of smell to the way we communicate.

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A Gem From The Archives: We Revisit A Mac Doubter

7:29pm January 24, 2014

To mark the 30-year anniversary of Apple's introduction of the Macintosh computer, we dug into our archives for our interview with Peter McWilliams about the new device. Back in 1984, McWilliams, author of The Personal Computer Book, doubted that the Mac would catch on with a wide audience.

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Target Co. estimates that at least 70 million individuals may have had information including their "names, mailing addresses, phone numbers or email addresses" stolen in a recent data breach.

Economy

Security Experts Say Data Thieves Are Getting Harder To Fight

8:53am January 14, 2014

by Yuki Noguchi

Even retailers that invest heavily in sophisticated security systems are seeing new vulnerabilities from rogue hackers who are buying software tools on the black market.

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Comcast is the largest cable company and home Internet service provider in the United States. A recent survey found that many Americans give Internet service providers low marks for satisfaction.

Internet In America: An On Again, Off Again Relationship

6:50pm January 12, 2014

by NPR Staff

For some Americans, getting high-speed Internet can be a challenge. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, consumers rate Internet service providers worse than airlines, the postal service and health insurance in terms of satisfaction.

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A First Look At New Tech Products To Hit The Market

12:53pm January 11, 2014

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas closed on Friday. Visitors were treated to more than 20,000 new products, with everything from Internet-connected clothing to giant television screens. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with reporter Steve Henn about some of the gadgets on the horizon.

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The Navigate Jacket from Wearable Experiments uses GPS navigation and a mapping app on the wearer's smartphone to signal directions. It's part of a new trend of wearable tech that some speculate will be a billion-dollar industry.

Tech Fit For The Showroom, But The Runway Might Have To Wait

10:27am January 08, 2014

by Aarti Shahani

Wearable technology is often said to look dorky. "Stylish" and "fashionable" are not words anyone would associate with devices like Google Glass or smart watches. But companies are now working to embed technology into clothing so that it's unobtrusive or even attractive.

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A DJI Phantom 2 flying camera is presented at the media event prior to the International CES show opening in Las Vegas.

CES 2014: Toothbrush? Bed? Car? Put Some Internet On It

11:18am January 07, 2014

by NPR Staff

The Consumer Electronics Show is the tech industry's annual electronics showcase in Las Vegas, where companies are showing off their latest and greatest gadgets, like Internet-connected toothbrushes (ideal for hygiene-concerned helicopter parents) and cars that come equipped with a 4G cell connection.

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A poster found in Warsaw shows a QR Code for a website related to the Cicada 3301 mystery.

World News

The Internet's Cicada: A Mystery Without An Answer

6:55pm January 05, 2014

by NPR Staff

Two years ago, strange sets of bewildering puzzles appeared on the Internet, with a message encouraging "highly intelligent individuals" to try to break the code. The code led to more clues spanning a global Internet mystery, that has yet to be solved.

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New In The Next Year: From Acting To Electric Cars

5:39pm January 04, 2014

Carlos Watson, co-founder of the online magazine Ozy, talks with host Arun Rath about what he's most excited about in 2014: Japan's burgeoning role on the world stage, the rise of actor Idris Elba and Tesla's electric cars.

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