From Droid Life: Slice Released on Android, One Hell of an Online Shopping Organizer

 

Slice, an online shopping organizer, made its way to Android today. If you do any or all of your money spending online, this is an app you should probably download immediately. All it takes is an email address that you send most of your online receipts to and it starts going to work. And what I mean by “work” is that it scans recent purchases and then grabs all of the important information out of them including tracking numbers. So once that email arrives in your inbox, Slice begins tracking its progress including when it will arrive on your doorstep. You can add up to 5 email accounts, in case you use more than one. It will tell you how many items you have purchased online over the years and how much you have spent (Yikes!). Again, an amazing tool for those that spend their days shopping over this wonderful thing called the Internet.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Google Play Link

Cheers Jeff!

from Droid Life

From Engadget: Toshiba builds scanner that can identify fruit without a barcode, yup

During our hurried supermarket sweeps, we’re aiming for the Granny Smith, yet somehow always come away with French Jonagold. That’s why we’re in awe of this new supermarket scanner from Toshiba-Tech that can identify individual species of fruit and veg from sight. Rather than a cashier keying in a produce code, a camera with optical pattern recognition technology filters out “visual noise” before identifying the genus of your apple by shape, surface pattern and coloration. It’s also able to scan labels and coupons, but so far the database only contains a handful of items. It’ll take over a year (when each thing has been harvested and scanned) to build a database necessary to make it commercially useful. Still, if you can’t bear to wait those precious seconds as your server finds the right code for lettuce, head on past the break to watch your future in action.

Continue reading Toshiba builds scanner that can identify fruit without a barcode, yup (video)

 

from Engadget

From Autoblog: Official: 2013 Chevy Malibu’s turbo four rated at 269 HP, 0-60 in 6.3 seconds

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2013 Chevrolet Malibu

We weren’t exactly smitten with the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Eco when we got the chance to tae one out for a spin, thanks in part to the eAssist wizardry aimed at improving the vehicle’s fuel economy. With a lackluster drivetrain, regenerative brakes and low rolling resistance tries, the Malibu Eco simply isn’t capable of keeping its head high among the competition. Even so, we were told to wait for the Ecotec 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder set to debut this year. Now we know why. According to General Motors, the engine is good for 269 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque. More importantly, all that torque comes on at a very low 1,700 rpm.

The direct-injection engine helps the Malibu hit 60 mph in a scant 6.3 seconds. Trust us when we say that’s an improvement over the Eco model. While there’s no word on fuel economy, we would expect the engine to return well better than the 17 mpg city and 26 mpg highway supplied by the outgoing 3.6-liter V6, an engine that was only good for 252 horsepower.

This isn’t the first time GM has dabbled with a turbocharged four-cylinder. The company supplied buyers with a 2.0-liter Ecotec in vehicles like the Pontiac Solstice GXP, HHR SS and Cobalt SS that put out 260 horsepower. See belowfor the full press release.

Continue reading 2013 Chevy Malibu’s turbo four rated at 269 HP, 0-60 in 6.3 seconds

2013 Chevy Malibu’s turbo four rated at 269 HP, 0-60 in 6.3 seconds originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from Autoblog

From Autoblog: Report: Fisker Karma owned by Consumer Reports breaks down

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Like pretty much any driver, we’ve had our share of car trouble over the years, both with vehicles loaned to us for review by automakers and our own private rides. What we haven’t experienced is being the first media outlet to plunk down over $100,000 for a luxury plug-in hybrid, only to have it konk out before we even put 200 miles on it.

That “honor” goes to Consumer Reports and their brand new Fisker Karma, which broke down during calibration tests, just a few days into CR‘s ownership period. After the dashboard flashed a warning, the driver stopped to see what was wrong, and then couldn’t get the PHEV into gear again. Self-repairs (i.e., let’s leave it alone for an hour and see what happens) didn’t work and the manual was no help, so the nearby dealer sent out a flatbed truck to haul the Karma away. As CR writes:

We buy about 80 cars a year and this is the first time in memory that we have had a car that is undriveable before it has finished our check-in process.

The Karma’s problems are widespread. It has been plagued by a variety of problems, including two recalls, one for a software glitch and one for battery issues, following a long delay getting the car to market. Owners commenting on the FiskerBuzz forum are also reporting various issues. Not exactly behavior that leads to a “Recommended” rating.

Continue reading Fisker Karma owned by Consumer Reports breaks down

Fisker Karma owned by Consumer Reports breaks down originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from Autoblog