Prizm Environment Adapting Speaker

Frank Gehry tells off contemporary architecture, Google maps the desert on camelback and Marcel the Shell returns in our weekly look at the web

If you ever casually laptop-DJ’d a dinner party or backyard get together, you know how hard it can be to read a crowd and play just the right music. Now a French startup is designing a streaming device called Prizm to save you from the awkwardness of playing 2 Chainz when your friends are feeling Coltrane. Prizm will mix and match music based on its …

Autistic Boy Bonds with Siri

Frank Gehry tells off contemporary architecture, Google maps the desert on camelback and Marcel the Shell returns in our weekly look at the web

While many iPhone users have looked to Siri for answers, one autistic boy has forged a friendship with the helpful robotic assistant. Gus, who is communications-impaired, found a sympathetic ear in Siri, who could chat endlessly with the boy about his interests. The relationship has also been therapeutic—the boy’s mother writes that Gus has had an easier time holding conversations with people in the real …

Google’s New Inbox App

Frank Gehry tells off contemporary architecture, Google maps the desert on camelback and Marcel the Shell returns in our weekly look at the web

This is not your standard Gmail application. Google’s new, and as of now limited release Inbox app presents information in an entirely different way, aimed at tackling the overwhelming influx many email users face daily. You can bundle, highlight and hone everything housed within. It’s all still experimental but it reflects a solid effort at thinking outside of the traditional (in)box.