Tech News

The small smartphone (by phablet standards) making big waves is Motorola's new Moto X, a fully customizable, user-friendly mobile device with a 4.7-inch display that, AT&T announced today, will arrive in stores (in woven white and woven black models) and begin customization online on Aug. 23.

AT&T customers who opt to personalize their Moto X will also receive a free Motorola Skip, a small electronic clip that unlocks the phone's screen without having to enter a pass code.

The Skip (pictured below) uses NFC (near field communication) to pair with the Moto X and authenticate its lock screen. It's about the size of your thumb and can slip onto a belt loop or pocket. Tap the Moto X to the Motorola Skip, and the home screen is revealed, without having to punch in an authentication code or use a unique swipe gesture — in fact, you don't have to touch the screen at all.

The Skip will be available in black and gray first and come free with all custom Moto X orders. Motorola plans on releasing more colors in late Fall.

In addition to the Skip clip, the accessory comes with Skip "dots," which are stickers that can be attached to a desk, nightstand or other frequented place. Tap the Moto X on a Skip dot to authenticate, as you would with the Skip clip.

The Moto X, with all of its nongimmicky, user-friendly features, is a fresh new direction for Android devices. Motorola, which was acquired by Google in 2012, took a lot of common user behavior into account when designing the device. For example, the team calculated the number of times per day an average user unlocks their phone — 39 times and for power users hundreds more — and developed technologies like Skip and "Active Display" to make the Moto X more accommodating to that action.

Learn about "Active Display" and more of the Moto X's standout features, as we weigh the pros and cons of the new Android device. On AT&T, the 16GB Moto X is $200 and the 32GB model is $250, with a two-year agreement. With AT&T's "new phone every year" Next plan, the 16GB is $27 per month and the 32GB is $32 per month for at least 12 months.

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Google Search, the seemingly all-knowing assemblage of random bits of information, is getting to know you (yes, you) a whole lot better. In fact, over the next few days, Google will be able to show when your flight will take off, where that Amazon shipment of Lego Minecraft is, and where your other half made dinner reservations.

No, you won't be able to search for other people's personal information (eg. "What are Nicole Nguyen's plans for tomorrow?") — only your own. In the search bar, type queries such as, "Is my flight on time?" or "My photos from Thailand" and personal results for flights, reservations, purchases, plans, and photos will appear.

How does Google know all your plans? Information from Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google+ accounts is pulled to create the personalized search results. If it's too creepy head to search settings and select "Do not use private results."

The located-based Google Now feature on the iOS and Android Google Search mobile apps already had private results baked in. But the Googs is now rolling out personalized search to all users on desktop, tablet, and smartphones accessing the search bar on Google.com.

Try asking, "Where am I meeting XX person on Sunday?" or "What time do I have to leave for dinner?" and let us know if Google gets it right!

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Inspired by the disappointing reality of California's $68 billion high-speed rail plans, Elon Musk, founder of PayPal, SpaceX, and Tesla Motors, revealed Monday his plans for the future of intercity high-speed travel: the Hyperloop.

In a 56-page study uploaded to the Tesla Motors website, Musk details his plans for the Hyperloop: low-pressure steel tubes that transport people in pod capsules, which are supported on cushions of air that use pressurized air and aerodynamic lift. To put it in the most basic terms, Musk compares the system, in theory, to the pneumatic tubes used by banks in drive-throughs before the days of ATMs. The hypothesized Hyperloop works on very different low-friction technology, which Musk even believes could work using Tesla's state-of-the-art Model S battery pack.

The Hyperloop proposed this week would follow the basic path of Interstate 5 between San Francisco and LA, generally more inland. Though Musk said he wasn't available to take on this project due to the responsibilities toward SpaceX and Tesla, it appears the interest in high-speed alternative to air — at billions less than the current California-government-approved bullet train — may tempt the entrepreneur to work on a Hyperloop prototype: "I've come around on my thinking here, that maybe I should do the beginning bit," he said.

Below, we break down the SpaceX founder's plan for an efficient, convenient transportation system that can move passengers hundreds of miles in less than an hour.

35: Number of minutes it would take Hyperloop to travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco

900: Maximum distance in miles between two cities for them to benefit from a Hyperloop system. For any greater distance, Musk says, air travel is preferable.

760: Miles per hour at which capsules travel

28: Passengers aboard each sealed capsule

840: Passengers shuttled between LA and SF per hour

2: Number of minutes it would take to wait for the next capsule at a Hyperloop station

30: Number of seconds it would take to wait to board a new capsule during peak transit hours

275,000: Cost, in dollars, for each capsule

6: Cost in billions of dollars that Musk estimates for the production of the Hyperloop. Less than what his other companies — Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity — have spent, combined.

20: Estimated cost in dollars of a one-way passenger ticket on the Hyperloop

23: Distance in miles between each capsule

7-10: Years it would take to make a working prototype

100: Amount of operating pressure in pascals to reduce drag and make transit equivalent to flying at 150,000 feet

1,000: The number of engineers from SpaceX and Tesla that worked on the Hyperloop concept throughout the last year. Only in the last few weeks did any of those engineers work on the project on a full-time basis.

—Additional reporting by Nicole Nguyen

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