Category: feature

Another Thursday, another bite-sized news round-up of the week’s leading headlines! From Bitcoin on Fidelity to Meta’s First Retail Store and more, we have you covered. Read on for the biggest tech stories from around the world.

Meta Set to Debut First Retail Store this May

Social Media giant Meta will debut its first retail store and its coming to California. The hardware retail store will open on its campus in Burlingame on May 9th. Likewise, visitors will have a chance to check out products like Meta’s Portal videophones and Quest virtual reality headsets. In addition, the retail store will also provide visitors a chance to demo the Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses which debuted last year. The store will have a demo area for Portal and a space to test several Quest 2 demos. Along with opening up a retail store for its products, Meta will also be adding a “Shop” tab to its website to make online purchases easier. 

Bitcoin Investing for 401(k) to be Rolled out by Fidelity

Eligible individuals will soon be able to save a portion of their 401(k) in Bitcoin through Fidelity. The company announced the change this week but will not begin rolling out the option until mid-2022. In addition, employees will only have the option to invest in Bitcoin if their employer has signed off on the option. Likewise, Fidelity has not specified how much employees can dedicate to cryptocurrency. The Wall Street Journal reports that employees can elect to save up to 20 percent of their retirement fund in Bitcoin, although this is not confirmed. Fidelity also reportedly plans to add support for other cryptocurrencies in the future. 

Pinned Grid Posts May Soon Come to Instagram

According to TechCrunch, Instagram has been testing a feature that will allow users to pin posts to their profiles. The test feature is currently live for some users as a part of the test, allowing a user to highlight specific posts at the top of their feed. Likewise, the feature is similar to pinned tweets on Twitter or pinned videos on TikTok. If the feature moves forward, it will give creators the opportunity to draw attention to specific content without asking a follower to scroll down. Meta confirmed the feature test this week, which has been in the works for the last few months. At this time, there is no word on when the general public will have access to the feature across all profile types.  

Reddit Invest $1 Million to Help Fund User’s Best Ideas and Competitions

In an announcement this week, Reddit will be expanding its Community Funds program. The company plans to spend $1 million to fund various projects across its platform. “We will invite communities to submit ideas for projects, events, contests, giving, almost anything you can think of to bring people together for inspiration and delight,” the company said in its announcement. Reddit will begin to issue grants between $1,000 and $50,000 in June for user projects. Likewise, the fund will be similar to other company’s creator funds like Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, and Spotify. While the monetary amount is small compared to competitors, it is likely Reddit will expand further on its funding initiative should it prove successful.

New Dawn of Exoplanet Research Introduced as NASA Hubble Links 25 Alien Worlds

International scientists have made a major new discovery through telescope data from observations by NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer. The discovery found after one thousand hours of telescope data points to numerous exoplanets scattered across the universe.  Likewise, the news marks a major milestone for the study of interstellar worlds. The information can give scientists a better understanding of how planets like our own and that of nearby neighbors like Mars formed long ago. “Our paper marks a turning point for the field: We are now moving from the characterization of individual exoplanet atmospheres to the characterization of atmospheric populations,” Billy Edwards, an astronomer at University College London and co-author of a study on the discovery published Monday in The Astrophysical Journal said in a statement.

Are you thinking about organizing drawers in your home? A lot of homeowners neglect messy drawers because they are out of sight. However, disorganization can cause several problems. For instance, if your drawers are poorly organized, the risk of misplacing your everyday items will increase, meaning that you might have to waste a significant amount of your time looking for missing items. Besides, disorganized drawers will make it more and more difficult for you to fit in all your items, meaning that you might be forced to keep some of your items where they shouldn’t be. Below are some tips you can count on to keep your drawers organized.

Start with Empty Drawers

If you want to get more organized, you need to start with a blank slate. In other words, you need to empty all the drawers. This will allow you to know what you have and need to organize. Furthermore, emptying the drawers will enable you to dust your drawers and keep them ready to keep items that need to be placed in a clean area.

Get Rid of the Items You Don’t Need

Once you have emptied your drawers, you need to start identifying the items you do not need. You can decide to donate some of them, sell others, and throw away the rest. Removing the clutter will go a long way in making it easier for you to organize the items that mean the most to you.

Group Your Items

Once you have removed the clutter, you should then group your items. For instance, if you are organizing clothes, you could categorize them as T-shirts, pants, undergarments, and so on. Within the categories, you can then group your items further according to their colors. The number of categories you create should be based on the number of drawers you have.

Make Use of Your Drawer Organizers

If you have to store more than one category of items in a single drawer, then you should make use of drawer organizers to separate various categories of items. This is particularly important for items that can get easily entangled, such as socks. Drawer separators will make it easier for you to access the items you need at a particular time without interfering with the organization of other items.

Differentiate Your Drawers

If it is hard for you to remember the items you have stored in all your drawers, then you should consider creative labeling. For instance, you can decide to color-code them with paint or different colors of knobs. You can also label each drawer using stickers and stencils. This will make it easier for you and your children to easily locate the items you need to use at any particular time.

It’s time for our weekly round-up of tech news. Read this week’s blog for our breakdown of the top headlines in the world of technology and consumer products. From an NFT Marketplace on Coinbase to Apple’s Earth Day Efforts and more, we have you covered.

Amazon to Give Away 10 Free Books for World Book Day

World Book Day is soon approaching (April 23) and Amazon has announced its way of celebrating. Kindle ebook users will get access to 10 free books through April 27. The books come from around the world for the biblio-themed holiday organized by UNESCO. Likewise, in order to access the free collection of reads, books fans must have an Amazon account. However, the giveaway day does not require a Prime or other types of special membership. Similar to last year, the 10 books come from 10 different countries and represent multiple genres. 

Coinbase Launches Social NFT Marketplace in Limited Beta

 This week, Coinbase announced the launch of their NFT Marketplace. The marketplace is currently in beta and access has been limited to “a small set of beta testers who’ll be invited based on their position” on Coinbase’s waitlist. Coinbase hopes to take on established players in the space by incorporating social features and an algorithmic feed. In addition to more practical features, the profiles allow users to showcase their collections. Users can also utilize a discover feed which Coinbase says will recommend NFTs based on user activity. Likewise, the marketplace will also provide support for favoriting NFTs, similar to OpenSea and other comparable marketplaces. 

New Smart Glasses Provide Upgraded Visual Aid for the Blind

Envision Smart Glasses have hit the market and are providing much-needed aid for the blind. Built on the enterprise edition of Google Glass, the smart glasses use AI to help the blind or visually impaired better understand their surroundings. The technology uses a small built-in camera to scan objects, people, and text which it then relays the information to the wearer. The company hopes it will make day-to-day living more intuitive and easier for the blind. Likewise, the smart wear glasses come at a cost with a current price tag of $3,500. Alternatively, consumers seeking to use the tools that the smart glasses offer can also access the Envision app which uses your phone camera instead of wearable tech.

Thumbs Up and Hand Raise Recognition Comes to Zoom

Everyone’s favorite conferencing app has a few new upgrades. Zoom has announced a new recognition feature for desktop that will make meetings run more smoothly. The latest update will now recognize gestures like thumbs-up or hand-raising made by users to their webcam. Likewise, the recognition feature will alert the host via emoji of such gestures. The company hopes the change will make it easier for situations like Q&As. Users can now simply raise their hands instead of searching for the hand raise option. Of course, the news is not news for Zoom’s iPad and iPhone apps that have had the gesture feature since last summer. We give our thumbs up to this useful digital tool.

Lord of the Rings Fans Can Now Get Their Hands On A Luxury Edition of the Book Series

Illustrated by the film’s Oscar-winning designer, a new luxury collection of Lord of The Rings Books has hit the market. The quarter-bound hardback books are designed in burgundy leather with a silver page top with feature illustrations by Alan Lee. Fans of the film adaptations will recognize Lee’s work since it was those conceptual designs that established the visuals for the Peter Jackson films. The books come courtesy of The Folio Society and are only available in a limited quantity of 1,000, as they have each been hand-signed by Lee. Likewise, the limited-edition run of the exclusive LOTD books is available at a price tag of $1500. 

A New Secret AR Smart Home Product is in the Works at Amazon

Amazon is seeking to get in on the augmented reality market. The company is currently hiring for “new-to-world smart-home product” that uses “XR” technology. While the specifics of the project are not disclosed in the listing, the job description does note that a team is planned or in the works. Additional roles for the top-secret project like Sr. Technical Program Manager, New Products-XR provide even more insight. The program manager role “will develop an advanced XR research concept into a magical and useful new-to-world consumer product.” With a number of roles being hired for the project, one can only assume Amazon is seeking to beat out the competition in Smart Home offerings. Competitors in the AR and robotics field like Meta and Microsoft have already released details of their own projects that seek to take the common household into the future. 

Apple Makes Major Changes to Recycling Efforts

This week, Apple announced its latest effort to become an eco-conscious company. The tech giant will be expanding its efforts to reuse gold, tungsten, cobalt, and other elements for its consumer products. In addition, Apple said that 20% of materials used for products last year were recycled, making it the highest level yet for the company. The company typically publishes its environmental report ahead of Earth Day every year. Likewise, Apple made additional environmental announcements as a part of its progress report. Apple is also expanding its recycling program to include gold captured from logic boards and wires in the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro. Those seeking to read more from Apple’s Environmental Progress Report can view the full pdf on their website.

A kitchen backsplash protects the kitchen wall and improves the overall aesthetic in your kitchen. However, choosing the right backsplash can be tricky because there are countless options. We’re sharing our tips to make the right choice for your kitchen in this week’s blog!

5 Things To Consider When Getting the Perfect Backsplash for Your Kitchen

Before you settle on a specific kitchen backsplash, explore the different colors, designs, and materials to identify the best one for your kitchen.

1. Complementary Colors

Matching the color of your kitchen backsplash with that of the walls, counters, appliances or cabinets might not be the best option because using a single color on everything can make everything bleed together.

Consider using a shade that’s slightly darker than the countertop to add definition, texture, and depth. Doing so also makes your kitchen appear roomier. Ample natural light accentuates the darker colors. Lighter colors, too, can make your kitchen seem bigger. Just make sure they complement rather than match your countertop.

2. Easy To Clean and Maintain

A good kitchen backsplash effectively protects your kitchen wall, so you want non-porous options that are easy to clean. Go for a backsplash that’s not easily susceptible to heat and stains because the kitchen tends to get hot and grease tends to splash onto the kitchen walls.

3. Matches the Grouting

The color of your grout should blend seamlessly with your backsplash so that grease stains are not as conspicuous, so you might want to steer clear of white grout. Likewise, the grout should also be durable to stand up well against stains and heat. Darker grout is also a good option as it can accentuate the color of the tiles and complete other aspects of your kitchen.

4. High-quality and Sustainable

Go for a backsplash made of high-quality materials that can stand the test of time. Many options are available, including cork, glass, brick, and clay. The great thing about most of these materials is they are available in various designs and colors. You can also find environmentally friendly materials.

5. Size of the Backsplash

Your budget and preferences will determine the height of your kitchen backsplash. The backsplash can cover the entire height of the wall, protect only a section of it, or cover only the bottom of the cabinets. Where possible, it can cover every available space around the stove and sink right up to the ceiling. Choosing the right design and color can really pop your kitchen’s aesthetic.

Choose a Beautiful, Durable Kitchen Backsplash

As mentioned previously, your preferences and budget are the main factors that determine your choice of kitchen backsplash. Go with a design and colors that not only make you happy but that will also last a long time.

There’s no one size fits all. Plain shades can work as well as mosaics. For the best results, consult an experienced interior designer. Call [Company Name] to learn more about buying and selling luxury real estate properties in Southern California.