This may shock you, but giving large companies special tax deals doesn’t magically lead to full employment and economic paradise. The Wall Street Journal reports that both AT&T and Verizon started receiving huge tax breaks starting in 2008 as part of a stimulus package and since then have actually reduced their combined employee counts by around 100,000 people.
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We’ve all done it: Attempt to use a mobile device that is short on battery life while it’s charging with a cable that’s even shorter. This invariably leads to sore necks, headaches, and over-stretched charging cables.
Now you can get the range of motion you need to comfortably use your device while it’s charging with The 6 Ft. iOS and Micro-USB Charging Cable, half price for a limited time at BGR Deals.
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Google Now will soon receive an awesome new feature, Droid-Life reports, but not all users will be able to take advantage of it without purchasing an additional piece of hardware. According to the publication, Google Now will soon be updated with the ability to interact with Nest thermostats, meaning that Android users who also happen to have a Nest installed in their homes or at the offices will be able to control it via Google’s smart assistant.
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If you decide to use Uber, you should always make sure you’re both sober and fully awake. Gothamist brings us the story about one New York woman who took an Uber ride home from a holiday party last week and who passed out on the way home because she was “feeling ill and tired.” When she woke up, she found that she’d been billed $293 for the ride, which was supposed to have been a fairly short 4.8-mile trip but that mysteriously turned into a 14.5-mile journey while she was asleep in the backseat.
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Apple’s mobile payment solution Apple Pay will someday be among several similar offerings that are ubiquitous in the United States. These great mobile device-based payment solutions will be accepted everywhere and consumers will no longer need to carry credit cards or even cash. But as we said in our recent coverage of a smart card called Coin, that future is still far off in the distance.
In the meantime, most retail establishments don’t accept Apple Pay. So, if you want to use Apple’s new mobile payment solution, you’ll first need to figure out whether or not it even works in the store you’re visiting.
Now, figuring that out is easier than ever thanks to a free iPhone app called Chameleon.
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One thing that many Apple fans have criticized the company for this year has been releasing 16GB models of both its newest iPhones and iPads even though it’s clear that most users need more storage on those devices. Now Business Insider points us to a new study that offers still more fodder against Apple’s insistence on making 16GB the lowest possible tier for storage space on its iPhones and iPads.
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Count wireless charging among a handful of smartphone features that are absolutely terrific but not quite popular enough to truly impact user experiences as much as they should. There is no question that simply placing your handset down on a charging surface is more convenient than plugging in a cable or shimmying your phone into a dock. Not enough phones support wireless charging out of the box, however, and users still need to buy multiple charging pads for different locations and also carry a charging pad for use on the go.
Someday, wireless charging stations will be everywhere we go and the technology will indeed vastly improve the smartphone user experience. Until then, it’s a nice convenience when it’s supported. And while Apple device owners still can’t enjoy that convenience out of the box, you can now add wireless charging to your device just a few minutes with minimal investment.
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It’s that time of the week again, and BGR is bringing you a roundup of the best new content on Netflix for your streaming pleasure. A lot of your time is wasted by looking around Netflix for something you haven’t seen yet, so this update will save you some precious ticks on the clock.
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With less than two weeks until Christmas, it is now officially crunch time. People across the country will be spending money on last-minute gifts over the next nine days, so we’re going to do our best to help you all save some money by sharing nifty paid iPhone and iPad apps that are on sale for free for a limited time. To start things off on Monday, we have a great list of nine apps that are all free right now.
As always though, these are limited-time sales that could end at any moment, so be sure to hurry.
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Samsung’s smartphone profits have been getting absolutely hammered all year as it’s facing an insane amount of competition from low-cost vendors in key markets such as China. Now a new report from Reuters illustrates just how brutal the competition is for mobile phones right now, as it turns out up-and-coming smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi is scraping by with tiny operating margins of under 2%.
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