With audio recognition, Facebook can help automatically check in to your favorite music, movies and TV

Gigaom

Since the dawning of its Open Graph back in 2011, Facebook (s fb) has been encouraging users to not only provide status updates but to check in to locations, activities, entertainment and even feelings. Now an update to Facebook’s apps, announced Wednesday and rolling out over the next few weeks, enables users to take advantage of their microphones and automatically check in to TV shows, movies and music.

The optional feature, when enabled, will listen to noise around the user and detect media from a catalog of movies, TV and music. When turned on, the app will listen automatically to noise — meaning that it can actually identify media while statuses are written. When shared, friends can access a 30-second preview for music, a link to the Facebook page for movies and a listing of the episode name and number for television shows. A representative from Facebook said that the company…

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BlackBerry launches Project Ion to join the internet of things

Gigaom

BlackBerry is launching a series of projects called Project Ion for the internet of things with the idea of using its experience in building secure, connected devices to connect sensors, cars and anything else in a secure fashion to a cloud back end. Alec Saunders, the vice president of cloud at BlackBerry, launched the project at the O’Reilly Solid conference in San Francisco with a call for developers to try to build applications on the proposed platform.

What is Project Ion

The project is a cloud back end and BlackBerry’s QNX software that allows a device to send information back to the cloud. When it comes to the cloud portion, Saunders said in an interview before his talk, “We have stolen liberally from open source software in computing and networking that has been going on in the last couple of years. Many of them didn’t exist in the form we…

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BlackBerry Reveals Project Ion, Its QNX-Powered Effort To Underpin The Internet Of Things

Xbox One’s June Update Will Finally Fix Two Of The Console’s Most Annoying Shortcomings

Updates Coming ❤

Want iOS notifications on the Mac? Try Notifyr

Gigaom

Notifyr is a new service that pairs an iPhone(s appl) to a Mac through Bluetooth and pushes notifications from the mobile device to the desktop. I got a chance to try it out, and it works splendidly, but there are a few limitations you should be aware of before you pay $3.99 for the app.

Getting it working is easy. First, you need to install an app — actually, a prefpane — on your Mac, which is free, and you’ll also need the paid iOS app. Pair the two devices through low-energy Bluetooth: a code will be provided on the Mac, which you plug into the Notifyr app on the iPhone. Now you’re ready to get notifications on your Mac.

I was able to test out several types of notifications, including Facebook Messenger, texts, and calls. The notifications show up in the OS X notification center, complete with the app’s icon…

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Apple cleared to operate and market products in Saudi Arabia

Google Plans Low-Cost, High Quality Wi-Fi Networks For Small- And Medium-Sized Businesses, Report Says

Nest recalls 440,000 smoke and carbon monoxide alarms

Gigaom

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is recalling more than 440,000 Nest(s goog) smoke alarms to fix a safety issue that could prevent the alarms from sounding in the event of an emergency. The recall is related to a feature that allows users to mute their Nest Protect by waving a hand in front of it. Last month, Nest halted sales of the Nest Protect because of the same issue, but today’s official recall means customers are eligible for a full refund. If you like your Nest Protect, an over-the-internet update to its firmware is available and should fix the problem. In a statement provided to Gigaom, a spokesperson explained:

Current customers can continue to use their Nest Protects once the Nest Wave feature has been disabled via software update. Even with the Wave feature disabled, the Nest Protect Alarm will continue to perform its essential safety functions, monitoring for increased levels of smoke and CO, and…

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Facebook-commissioned study says Oregon data center is good for the economy

Gigaom

Facebook is claiming that its Prineville, Ore., data center, opened in April 2010, is boosting the local economy in that region of central Oregon, which includes Crook County.

Based on a Facebook-commissioned study by the economic consulting firm ECONorthwest, which focusses on the Pacific Northwest area, Facebook said in a blog post that the data center’s construction activities over the past five years have led to 651 jobs in Central Oregon and $573 million in statewide capital spending.

As far as non-construction activities are concerned, the facility contributed to 207 jobs in Central Oregon in 2013 alone.

According to a Facebook spokesperson, of the 100 people currently employed full-time at the facility, approximately 85 percent are based in Prineville and Crook County.

Back in 2012, Gigaom’s Katie Fehrenbacher got a chance to visit the Oregon facility, which is one of the most energy efficient in the world.

While it is nice…

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Google reportedly plans to target businesses with Wi-Fi

Google targeting businesses now

Gigaom

Google(s goog) may not be able to sell businesses a broadband connection outside of its handful of fiber cities, but it could supply the final wireless link to millions of restaurants, gyms and doctors’ offices, according to a new report by The Information.

According to The Information’s Amir Efrati, Google plans to sell Wi-Fi gear at steep discounts to businesses in exchange for managing their applications in its cloud and permission to extend wireless internet access to other Google customers. If the report is true, this could be part of a larger plan by Google to circumvent mobile carriers and use Wi-Fi to connect more of its customers to its services on the go.

Image: Shutterstock / Sputanski

Key to strategy, according to Efrati, is the emerging technology Hotspot 2.0, which allows Wi-Fi networks to behave more like cellular networks. With Hotspot 2.0, Google could use these businesses’…

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