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Playful new NY math museum not for squares

Math. The very word can conjure painful memories: long division, square roots, the quadratic equation.

Not only do many of us not like math; we're also not very good at it. In an international test of 15-year-olds, the U.S. placed 24th out of 64 countries.

"We don't currently, in this country, have a cultural expectation that yeah, you're going to learn math just like you're going to learn reading," said Glen Whitney. "It's OK to not be good at math."

Glen Whitney is good at math. He's got a Ph.D. in it, and is trying to change the way we think about one of our least favorite subjects. … Read more

LG Optimus G Pro to debut this April

LG's Optimus G Pro smartphone will reach consumers in April, at least those in Japan.

Japanese provider NTT DoCoMo announced the news yesterday. A Google-translated version of the company's press release revealed early April as the launch date for the successor to LG's popular Optimus G.

A DoCoMo slideshow page reveals a host of details about the phone, but only for people who can read Japanese. The PDF slideshow is protected, making it impossible to copy and paste the text for translation.

Specs published by Japanese media site Impress Group point to a 5-inch display with a 1,920x1,080 pixel resolution. … Read more

Control your lights using Siri and a WeMo Switch

There are plenty of creative hacks you can use to control a random appliance or two in your house with Apple's Siri, but most of them take some level of programming and hardware expertise to accomplish.

I've come up with a less tech-savvy way to use Siri to control a lamp, or anything that plugs in. You'll only need to know how to give Siri a command after everything is set up.

To get started you'll need a Belkin WeMo Switch and an IFTTT (for "if this, then that") account. Provided by the WeMo … Read more

2013: The year the smart kitchen finally arrives?

January is a time of renewal. It also happens to be when appliance makers show off their visions of what is to come. The event is CES 2013 and this year, according to those that make kitchen gadgets and appliances, everything is going to be very, very smart. While we have been promised automated kitchens in one form or another since the time of the Jetsons, there is one important factor in the modern world that may see the smart kitchen finally grow up: mobility.

The year 2013 is going to be one marked by plenty of smartphone and tablet sales. … Read more

NTT DoCoMo loses 40K subscribers to iPhone 5

NTT DoCoMo lost 40,800 subscribers in November, acknowledging that it's due to customer flight to the iPhone 5, according to Japan's Nikkei business daily.

For Japan's largest mobile-phone carrier, it was the first monthly drop in over five years.

NTT DoCoMo made no bones about blaming its shrinking subscriber base on customers opting for the iPhone 5 at rival carriers.

The company does not offer the iPhone, while rivals Softbank and KDDI do. Both of those carriers posted subscriber gains in November, with KDDI showing net gains of 228,800 customers and Softbank adding 301,900, … Read more

Eye-controlled 'i beam' tablet lets you strap-hang safely

Japan has some pretty high-tech trains, but bumpy rides are still common. If you're squashed between dozens of commuters and gripping a strap with one hand while holding reading material in the other, turning the page as the speeding carriage lurches to and fro can be downright dangerous.

That's why NTT DoCoMo has developed a prototype tablet that you can control with your eyes. The "i beam" has a gaze-tracking function that frees your other hand so you can hang on to that subway strap, or, for instance, pull a suitcase around if you're walking through an airport. … Read more

How one start-up is turning movies into mobile apps

MoPix CEO Ryan Stoner has a novel way for independent filmmakers to get their work directly into the hands of their audience: turn the movies into apps.

MoPix today unveiled a platform that will allow directors to create apps out of their movies. In addition to the film, the app can include DVD-style extras like behind-the-scenes footage, a photo gallery, filmography, and other features. Think of it as buying a DVD or Blu-ray disc, only stored to your iPad.

Admittedly, I was a bit confused by the notion. Can't filmmakers just sell them through iTunes?

But Stoner said he … Read more

DoCoMo Raku-Raku touch screen mimics real buttons

You'd think there aren't any Japanese left whose fingers aren't incessantly caressing a smartphone touch screen, but NTT DoCoMo begs to differ.

The giant carrier will launch the Android 4.0 Raku-Raku Smart Phone on August 1, targeting novice touch-screen users, with a display that mimics the feel of old-fashioned buttons.

When a menu item on the screen is touched, it gets highlighted. The user then has to push more firmly to confirm the choice. The handset responds with a click and slight vibration. … Read more

iLuv ships Mo'Beats portable stereo Bluetooth speaker stand

Though it's listed as out of stock on its own Web site, iLuv tells me that it's begun shipping its Mo'Beats iSP245 portable stereo Bluetooth speaker stand.

Since it uses Bluetooth for wireless audio streaming, you can use the Mo'Beats with any Bluetooth-enabled tablet, smartphone, or laptop, though it's more ideally suited for tablets. It has a built-in rechargeable battery for mobile use and there's an auxiliary input to connect non Bluetooth-enabled devices.

iLuv's highlighting the product's "cradle" design, which allows for either landscape or portrait viewing "while accommodating … Read more