Kiran Upadhyay

Apple has been granted a new patent by the USPTO today (via AppleInsider), which describes a mouse with an embedded scanner. The scanner can be used to actually scan images, and display them on an embedded screen, but it also would help the mouse deal with varying surface types and track better in general, thanks to the addition of the kinds of chromatic sensor found in scanners. The Apple patent describes how use of the scanner’s sensors would allow it to detect different kinds of surfaces and adjust its behaviour accordingly. The tech is sort of similar to the approach taken with its current Magic Mouse, which uses high-accuracy laser tracking to identify surface irregularity and work on materials other than mouse pads. It can already handle basically anything except for glass, so this is just an alternative tech that likely won’t lead to any big changes in how Apple produces its mice. As a scanner, it would also likely be quite fiddly to use, and other similar products on the

 Good news! Skype says that Chrome on Chromebooks and non-Windows platforms can use Skype for Web for instant messaging, but not yet for voice and video because the plugin hasn’t been configured for them yet. Skype has brought its instant messaging, voice and video chat service to the browser with a new beta available now. The Skype web client also allows anyone to sign in and use it their account when they’re on an unfamiliar or public computer, without having to be able to install native apps. The Skype web app is designed to eventually work without any plug-ins, which again goes to the point of it being usable without install permissions, but initially it will require you to install a single small plug-in to get voice and video calls, while Skype works with Internet Explorer to bring Real-Time Communications (RTC) standards to that browser. It should sync up your various conversations and message status, and let you get chatting quickly, and it also lets you call friends with

Logitech has been building iPad keyboards for years – they were among the first to recognize the value of doing so, in fact. But for all their experience, and various iterations of the concept of the keyboard case, the company may have got it most right with a remarkably simple design introduced just this past month with the new Keys-To-Go Bluetooth wireless keyboard. The Keys-To-Go is an uncomplicated affair – it has a keyboard similar in size to those you might find built-in to its ultrathin iPad keyboard case line, but with no means of attaching itself to the actual iPad you want to use it with. Instead, it’s incredibly thin and lightweight, and has a seamless coating protecting the keyboard’s keys, while at the same time allowing each key to have some definite travel for a natural typing feel. Included in the set of keys this thing provides are iPad-specific buttons for finding the home screen, activity spotlight search, switching languages, activating the camera, playing ba

Microsoft is up to its old tricks again, and just in time for the holidays. The latest ad out of Redmond pits its Surface Pro 3 against the MacBook Air, and with all the holiday cheer and spirit you’d expect in mid-November. Going over all the same features we see listed in every Surface Pro 3 ad, Microsoft talks about the touchscreen and the pen and the detachable keyboard, all the tune of “Walking In A Winter Wonderland.” How festive! This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Microsoft come after Apple’s MacBook Air in commercials. The Surface Pro 3, which starts at $799, has a much easier argument going up against an expensive ultra-thin, premium laptop from Apple than it does against a less expensive iPad Air, or worse, Android tablets that can often go at even cheaper price points. But Microsoft isn’t just competing with Apple on behalf of the Surface Pro. The company is fighting its southern nemesis in the software space, too, with earlier ads pinning Cortana against Siri.

iOS 8.1.1 is now available, as the first update since Apple’s launch of Apple Pay on the platform. It includes a number of bug fixes, improved overall stability, and, most importantly, performance improvements for older devices including the iPhone 4s and iPad 2. These devices, while technically supported with iOS 8.0, suffered a performance hit according to some as a result of the demands of the new OS, and this update should help make life easier for those who’ve already upgraded. Apple doesn’t elaborate any further on just how these improvements work, but even just word of something potentially better should be welcome news to iPhone 4s and iPad 2 owners. We’ve also downloaded and tested the update on newer hardware, including the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and thus far, there haven’t been any major problems like the cellular connectivity bug that affected 8.0.1. It also seems to resolve problems some were having with iCloud Drive and apps including iWork for iOS. The update can be

From wearables to moveables, the rise of the sensornet rolls on: a Bluetooth-connected suitcase which keeps tabs on where in the world you’ve traveled and tracks its own location using GPS so you’ll never have to leave the lost luggage department with a crestfallen face has passed $1 million raised on the Indiegogo crowdfunding website. The Bluesmart carry on suitcase also packs a 37 Watts lithium-ion battery so it can be used to charge your mobile devices when you’re stuck without a power socket. And that spare battery might well be the most attractive feature for the seasoned business traveller, ever on the hunt for somewhere to juice up their devices. Other smart features stuffed into an otherwise relatively ordinary-looking 34L, 21.5″ x 14″ x 9″  suitcase are a digital, proximity-triggered lock which can secure the case when it’s out of range of your phone for peace of mind. The proximity feature can also trigger in-app alerts when you and your case are parted to combat forge

If you’re like me, you have thousands of contacts scattered across your email, your phone, and various social networks but no good way to keep track of them all. You also aren’t very good at keeping in touch with all of those contacts, and you probably miss important details that they share on social channels because there are so damn many of them. A company called Accompani wants to change all that with a platform that keeps tabs on all your contacts so you don’t have to, and it’s raised a $15 million Series B round to help get its product to market. Accompani is the brainchild of former Google Analytics execs Amy Chang and Matthias Ruhl, who are using their background in data science and scaling computational systems to tackle the relationship management problem for busy professionals. By pulling in data from user’s email, contacts, social and professional feeds and interlacing that data with info from their social graph, the company hopes to save users time while also provid