Mike Carrall

Mike Carrall is a tech executive by day in Silicon Valley who writes under a pseudonym. Mike's passions include extreme sports, testing audio gear, trying (not so successfully) to restore a vintage 70's McIntosh receiver and spending time with his seven year-old daughter.
Smart Camera Functionality - trend market report 2019

Trendspotting: The smart camera era begins in 2019

"Cameras are becoming terrifyingly smart." According to a new report, the smart camera era begins in 2019. What does that mean? Activate CEO Michael Wolf and his research team suggest there are three primary reasons to expect the emergence of the smart camera over the next year or so: Visual intelligence Functionality ...
AmazonBasics Li-Ion Battery Canon Cameras (LP-E8)

Camera News: High quality, cheap batteries for your Canon DSLR, Rebel T2i/T3i/T4i/T5i, EOS camera

Finally some good news if you're looking for low cost, but high quality batteries for your Canon DSLR camera. Amazon has made available an AmazonBasics version of the popular LP-E8 battery. Rated at 1100mAh you can use this battery in a variety of Canon cameras including those from the Rebel and...
Google VP of Product Management Sundar Pichai. Photo: Engadget.com.

Google+ social network finally shutting down

Google has announced that its shutting down Google+. The ill-fated social network was Google's attempt to take on Facebook. Although initially successfully -- especially among the tech community -- it offered little to differentiate itself. Most users were accustomed to and happy with enough with Facebook, and reluctant to sign...
YouTube TV live baseball streaming

With YouTube TV, Google targets not only phones, but our living rooms too

YouTube TV is here in a big way. For $40/month you essentially get a package of channels that would've cost about twice as much in the old days of satellite and cable. Cord cutters looking for a comprehensible lineup of content could do well to place the service on...

Google Assistant now more about touch

Google today is rolling out an update to its famed voice assistant. Look for it today on your Android phone -- by way of the Google Play Store. Thankfully, the team in Mountain View realized that now all of us want to interact by voice, and is now giving more...
Amazon Plans Wall-Mounted Echo as Smart Home Command Center

Smart speakers are the smart home

Smart speakers are dominating. So much so, that it might be fair to say the heart of any smart home today starts with a smart speaker -- especially considering they're connected to the internet and can control pretty much all of the devices that are used for home automation...
Whole Foods delivery service continues to expand, adds Omaha, Jacksonville, Orlando, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Tampa and more

Whole Foods delivery service continues to expand, adds Omaha, Jacksonville, Orlando, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Tampa and more

Here comes Amazon -- again. Today, 10 new cities have been added to its growing grocery delivery business. The e-commerce giant has moved quickly after its huge acquisition of grocery outlet Whole Foods. Earlier this year, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced a new home delivery service. Much like its Prime...
iDeaPlay V207 Wireless Bluetooth Headphones - Review

Review: iDeaPLAY Bluetooth wireless headphones (V207)

Turns out you don't need to break the bank to get a decent pair of wireless headphones these days. In fact, far better than decent. Case in point, these racy things -- red trim and all -- from a company called iDeaUSA: For only $99 (USD) you get quite a...
Loni Stark at Pebble Beach Food & Wine

Study reveals more health benefits to drinking wine

Researchers have discovered something you may be very happy to hear about: drinking wine may have have positive impacts on your health. Previous studies has indicated that wine could reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Now there's more to add to the story. From Wine Spectator: "A number of...
Why Google Should Buy Twitter

Is Twitter dead?

U.S. user base is in decline, as are revenues. Building social networks that stand the test of time is proving near impossible. Call it the Facebook effect.