Behind the Pebble Core

Kickstarter

Steven Levy, writing for Blackchannel, on the new device from Pebble called the “Pebble Core.” It’s basically a little keychain sized device that can stream music from Spotify.

Today, Pebble is launching Kickstarter campaigns for three products. Only two of them are smart watches. It’s the third product that will garner the most attention. It’s a Pebble that’s not a watch. It is optimized for a single task: taking a run. It’s a white plastic and black rubber block, a little thicker than a mahjong tile, with an orange clasp that grasps a keyring. It plays music, has GPS and other sensors that can track activity, and a 3G cellular modem that allows it to work even if your phone isn’t on you.

Comixology Unlimited

Comic Books

Comixology has unveiled a new “unlimited” package for their comic book reading app, Six Colors has a good run down on what this means:

The idea of Comixology Unlimited is exactly what you’d expect: for a monthly fee—in this case, $6—you get access to a library of titles that you can read at your leisure. Unlike Marvel’s offering, there are a lot of different publishers here, such as heavy hitters like Image and Dark Horse, and other popular houses like Dynamite, Oni Press, IDW, Valiant, Fantagraphics, and way, way more. Not present, though are titles from Marvel, obviously, or from its chief rival, DC. That leaves the home of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman as the remaining major publisher not to offer a subscription service.

Review: PUP – The Dream is Over

PUP - The Dream is Over

PUP’s aesthetic isn’t a cool one. It’s not wrapped in two layers of irony, obsessed with a worldview, or holier-than-thou. Words that can describe both the band and The Dream Is Over are simple ones: loud, brash, louder, unsettled, loudest. In fact, naming their album The Dream Is Over is probably the most complicated thing about it, if only because it requires a backstory. (A doctor gave singer Stefan Babcock an apocalyptic diagnosis after observing his shredded vocal chords. But you know that already.) Everything else is pretty straightforward.

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