E Ink brings rich color to ePaper, but not to e-readers

 E Ink, maker of the ePaper displays found in many e-readers (maddening to have three different e prefixes in one sentence, but it’s unavoidable), announced a brand new type of reflective display that can show a huge range of colors — but the tech is only going to be deployed as signage for now. Read More

Nanomaterials could double efficiency of solar cells by converting waste heat into usable energy

 An experimental solar cell created by MIT researchers could massively increase the amount of power generated by a given area of panels, while simultaneously reducing the amount of waste heat. Even better, it sounds super cool when scientists talk about it: “with our own unoptimized geometry, we in fact could break the Shockley-Queisser limit.” Read More

eero inks $50 million funding deal with Menlo’s Opportunity Fund, plans to sell products at Best Buy

 Just months after finally shipping its product to consumers, smart wireless routing system eero has pulled in a new $50 million in growth funding from Menlo Ventures, as the first investment from the Menlo Opportunity Fund. Existing investors First Round Capital, Shasta Ventures, Red Point Ventures, and Playground Global also added to this round. Read More

Xiaomi unveils its first drone — and it costs just $450 for a 4K video model

 Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi officially unveiled its first drone today, ending a week of teasers about it, and the low price of the product might bring some serious competition to the space. Read More

Smart suitcase maker Bluesmart unveils luxury Black Edition

 Bluesmart, the makers of smart luggage with GPS and charging capabilities, has today introduced the latest in its line of luggage with the Black Edition. The Black Edition puts design top of mind, adding higher-value materials and more attention to detail to the already-smart suitcases so it looks and feels like a luxury item. The Black Edition is completely redesigned from earlier models, with… Read More

ZModo’s Pivot gives you 24/7 monitoring on the cheap

 We’ve come a long way from the days of pale beige IP webcams with wonky interfaces and limited recording times. Today’s webcams, like the ZModo Pivot, are motion-sensing, low-light seeing, and notification-rich cylinders that hide out in secret places and store video for days at a time. In essence webcams have morphed from wonky toys to actual tools and, in the process, have gone… Read More

Tim Cook admits ‘prices are high’ for iPhones in India

 Apple CEO Tim Cook made an uncharacteristic admission today in an interview with Indian news channel NDTV — that iPhones are too expensive. He immediately qualified it, and the context really is important, but it’s just one of those things you don’t hear very often. Read More