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Huawei new smartphone :Huawei Mate 9 review:Characteristics,cons and pros

2017-01-15T00:51:00.001+00:00

Microsoft tries to soothe regulators and critics with new privacy controls

2017-01-11T01:01:00.004+00:00

In the past year, regulators and privacy advocates have taken potshots at Microsoft over its data collection policies. Today, Microsoft announced some new privacy-related initiatives, including a significant change to the way Windows 10 collects telemetry data.

To address criticism from regulators and public policy groups, Microsoft is making some changes in its privacy practices.

Of all the body blows Microsoft has absorbed in the past 18 months over Windows 10, the criticisms of its privacy policies have to sting the most.

Last summer, the French National Data Protection Commission (CNIL) issued a formal notice against Microsoft, ordering that the company "stop collecting excessive data and tracking browsing by users without their consent."

The CNIL found Microsoft's collection of diagnostic information (so-called telemetry) acceptable but said that the default settings for Windows 10 go too far. The complaint singled out Microsoft's practice of collecting information about app usage as "excessive."

A month later, the Electronic Freedom Foundation took aim at Windows 10 with a signed editorial criticizing the company for "disregarding user choice" and sending "an unprecedented amount of usage data back to Microsoft...." As I noted at the time, EFF was especially critical of Microsoft's telemetry collection policies.

After months of explaining and defending its policies, publicly and in meetings with regulators, the company today announced that it's making a series of privacy-related moves. Terry Myerson, who runs the Windows and Devices Group, made the announcement in a blog post:

Many of you have asked for more control over your data, a greater understanding of how data is collected, and the benefits this brings for a more personalized experience. Based on your feedback, we are launching two new experiences to help ensure you are in control of your privacy.
First, today we're launching a new web-based privacy dashboard so you can see and control your activity data from Microsoft including location, search, browsing and Cortana Notebook data across multiple Microsoft services. Second, we're introducing in Windows 10 a new privacy set up experience, simplifying Diagnostic data levels and further reducing the data collected at the Basic level.

The changes to Windows 10 will roll out initially in an upcoming Windows Insider preview build, perhaps as soon as this week, and will reach the general public with the release of the Windows 10 Creators Update this spring.

I haven't seen these features in operation yet. The descriptions in the remainder of this post are based on what Microsoft says it plans to deliver. The broad outlines shouldn't change, but you can expect the user experience to evolve before the final release, based on feedback from Windows Insider Program participants and third parties.

Unlike its predecessors, the Creators Update will not arrive silently in the background. Instead, Microsoft plans to notify Windows 10 users that the update is available and allow them to schedule its installation. As part of the process of scheduling that upgrade, users will have the opportunity to make "explicit choices" about privacy settings in five categories.

This is the new privacy settings setup experience that will arrive soon in a Windows Insider preview build, according to Myerson:

via Microsoft

This setup screen replaces the Express Settings in current Windows 10 public releases, which requires multiple extra steps to adjust default settings in a clean installation and offers no control over privacy options during upgrades. (To make matters worse, some users have reported that Windows 10 upgrades occasionally reset custom privacy options to their default settings after an upgrade.)

The new interface for setting privacy options also includes an explanation of what happens if you turn any of those settings off or, in the case of the Diagnostics setting, adjust it from Full to Basic.

via Microsoft

All of those settings, along with more granular controls (such as setting location permissions on a per-app basis) will also be available after installation, under the Privacy heading in Settings.

The changes to telemetry settings start with the renaming of the category itself, from Diagnostic and Usage Data to just Diagnostics.

In all public releases of Windows 10 so far, non-Enterprise editions allow users and administrators to choose one of three levels to control telemetry collection: Full, Enhanced, and Basic. The changes in the Creators Update will eliminate the Enhanced level and also reduce the amount of information collected when you slide that switch to Basic.

(In Enterprise settings, administrators will continue to have an additional Security option, which eliminates virtually all telemetry collection but requires the deployment of an alternative update mechanism.)

In an interview, Microsoft Corporate Vice President Michael Fortin told me that the Enhanced level was "confusing," and "only a relatively modest number of Windows 10 users were choosing it." Most people either leave the default setting at Full or signal their preference for privacy by switching to the lowest available telemetry option, Basic, he noted.

Effective with this spring's Windows 10 feature update, telemetry information collected at the Basic level will no longer include information about app installation or usage. Instead, Myerson says, information collected at that level will focus strictly on security and reliability, with basic error reporting. That change should assuage some of the concerns of the CNIL and other regulators as well as privacy critics like the EFF.

The new Windows 10 settings are available in all installations, regardless of what type os account the user has signed in with.

The privacy dashboard is a separate feature, designed to give users of Microsoft services the opportunity to see and edit information that is collected and stored in the cloud when they are signed in with a Microsoft account.

According to Myerson, the new privacy dashboard (which will be available at https://account.microsoft.com/privacy will allow Microsoft customers, regardless of hardware platform or operating system, to review and clear data such as browsing history, search history, location activity, and Cortana's Notebook. (Note that this data is associated with a Microsoft account and is not saved in the cloud when the user browses without signing in.)

via Microsoft

Because this dashboard is web-based, it's likely to evolve significantly over time. In an interview, Myerson told me he expects his team to iterate on that user experience in response to feedback. "What we're learning," he said, "is that people don't always understand why something is being collected and what are the implications of clearing it out. We will continuously be improving."

On paper, Redmond can make a strong case that it has an economic incentive to protect its users' privacy. As I noted last summer, privacy should be a competitive advantage for Microsoft, especially when comparing its policies and practices to those of Google, whose entire business is built on collecting data from its users and turning it into advertising profiles.

Most of Microsoft's revenue comes from selling software licenses, cloud services, and hardware. A significant share of that business is with enterprise customers and government agencies that have a profound interest in privacy and security. Indeed, Microsoft has earned generally high marks for its handling of security and privacy issues in cloud services such as Office 365 and Microsoft Azure.

Where things get somewhat murkier is with products and services aimed at consumers and small businesses. Without transparency over exactly what information is collected and how it's used, the company remains vulnerable to accusations that it's spying on customers.

As Google and Facebook have proven, the most effective way to monetize personal information is through online advertising. Microsoft once had dreams of being an advertising powerhouse, which occasionally led to struggles between product designers and ad sellers.

But the company abandoned that strategic goal five years ago when it wrote off the acquisition of aQuantive and scaled back its advertising ambitions after five years of struggling. Today, the company's advertising business is healthy but relatively small and mostly intended to monetize strategic assets such as its Bing and Cortana search tools.

In Microsoft's most recent quarter, search advertising and other forms of online ads accounted for only about 5 percent of total revenue. Contrast that with Google, which earns roughly 90 percent of its revenue from advertising and depends on collecting massive amounts of data to power the ads that pay for Google Search, Gmail, and other free products

Without Microsoft's investments in those technologies, Google's dominance in search would arguably be a monopoly.

Still, even that small-by-Redmond-standards online search advertising business brought in about $1.4 billion in revenue in its recent quarter, up 40 percent over the previous year. Microsoft's ad business might be tiny compared to its rivals, but it's big enough for regulators and privacy advocates to worry about whether the company's data collection is being driven by its ad business.

Myerson tells me that they've shared details about its data collection practices with large enterprise customers and regulators. "That dialog is taking place in every country where we do business," he said. "We believe users have a right to privacy and users should have control over their data."

For consumers and small businesses, the new privacy dashboard offers more control over online data, but you'll have to take Microsoft assurances on faith when it comes to telemetry.

I asked Myerson whether Microsoft would consider contracting with an outside group, such as the EFF, to audit its data collection policies and offer an independent report.

"That's an interesting idea," he replied. "But various countries are going farther than hiring an audit firm. They're passing laws. We're making sure we're fully compliant with laws that affect Windows users."

Start caring about VR and 360-Degree video

2017-01-11T00:52:00.004+00:00

Why 360 VR was so impressive at CES 2016.

At the International CES mega show in Las Vegas, virtual reality hardware makers moved the needle on both consumption and creation devices for formats like VR and 360-degree video. Specifically in the area of 360 video creation technology, we saw some impressive cameras at CES.

Insta360 Pro debuted an 8K camera that can also shoot 4K video at 100 frames per second. Slow mo, high res VR, anyone? The Insta360 also employs new H.265 encoding, which can deliver better video quality at the same bitrate versus H.264 compression. The camera is priced at $3,000, which is steep, but much more competitive than the $60,000 Nokia Ozo.

Ricoh added to its lineup of cameras with the Theta R, which can livestream in 2K resolution at 30 frames per second for up to 24 hours.

At $800 the Vuze Camera will finally begin to ship in March. Its compact size and price point will be good for brands and businesses that want to dip their toes into new content

VR and 360 content can be a powerful tool for companies. For example, Delta used a 360 image to show off its new Delta Premium offering. It drove 2,700 shares and 16,000 engagements. Click on the post below to see it in 360.

The hardware for VR and 360 video is one piece, but the technical and production component is equally as important. When it comes to producing 360 video, remember:

Resolution matters. Here's how you need to think of 360 video. Imagine standing inside of a globe and looking straight ahead. You're only consuming about a quarter of what is happening all around you. If the camera produces video at full HD, then what you're seeing is below standard definition (SD). The higher the native resolution, the higher the fidelity of the 360 experience. That's why cameras that produce in 2K, 4K, and 8K will be so important.
Editing content requires new templates. When you edit 360 video, you edit the equirectangular format of it, which is analogous to the Mercator projection of a globe. That means the size and placement of text will be very important. If you put text at the top of the screen, then it will wrap around the "north pole" when it becomes 360. Experiment with text size and placement and then save it as a template to return to for future projects.
Don't obsess over VR headsets for delivery. Both Facebook and YouTube support 360-degree video and a variety of online video platforms do as well. The equirectangular video is simply injected with a bit of code that allows the video player to interpret the video as 360-degree content. We know that VR headsets are poised to grow and cheaper options will democratize them, but in the meantime, you have options available through Facebook, YouTube, and enterprise OVPs

Did any of the CES announcements entice you to explore VR and 360-degree video?

Apple issues software fix in response to MacBook Pro battery problems

2017-01-11T00:42:00.001+00:00

After Consumer Reports found wild variations in the new MacBook Pro's battery life, Apple blamed the problem on a Safari bug.

Apple has issued a fix to a Safari bug that it blames for problems with the new MacBook Pro's battery life.

Consumer Reports has refused to recommend the laptop to consumers after its tests showed the battery life on the machines would last anywhere from 19.5 hours to 3.75 hours.

Apple said the findings did not match the results of its own tests.

Working with CR to understand their battery tests. Results do not match our extensive lab tests or field data. https://t.co/IWtfsmBwpO
-- Philip Schiller (@pschiller) December 24, 2016

Now, after reviewing Consumer Reports' diagnostic data, the Cupertino company says the problem can be attributed to a Safari bug that was triggered by the settings Consumer Reports used.

"We appreciate the opportunity to work with Consumer Reports over the holidays to understand their battery test results," said Apple in a statement to Consumer Reports. "We learned that when testing battery life on Mac notebooks, Consumer Reports uses a hidden Safari setting for developing web sites which turns off the browser cache... We have also fixed the bug uncovered in this test."

The fix for the Safari bug is currently only available to those who sign up for the Apple Beta Software program, but it will be a part of a broader software update available in a few weeks.

Luckily for Apple, Consumer Reports says it's re-running its battery tests after downloading the software fix and will give the MacBook Pros a recommended rating if the problem is resolved.

These models were the first MacBooks to not receive recommended ratings from Consumer Reports -- and they were the only laptops out of 140 tested that demonstrated such inconsistent battery life.

How to pair AirPods with an Android device

2017-01-09T23:45:00.001+00:00

Yes, you can use AirPods with something that isn't made by Apple.

Photo by Jason Cipriani/CNET

Apple made it easy to pair AirPods across all of its devices in a matter of seconds. But just because AirPods are made by Apple and integrated with Apple products, that doesn't mean you can't use them as Bluetooth earbuds with non-Apple devices.

You can pair AirPods to an Android phone, a PC, or your Apple TV with the same Bluetooth pairing method we've grown accustomed to -- and grown to loathe, for that matter.

Photo by Jason Cipriani/CNET

Open the Bluetooth settings screen on the device you're going to use your AirPods with.
With the AirPods in the charging case, open the lid.
On the back of the case is a small button, press and hold it for a few seconds.
Once the indicator light between the earbuds begins blinking white, let go.
The AirPods will show up in the pairing menu on your device, select them and follow any prompts.

Naturally, if you aren't using an Apple product you'll lose out on some features. You won't have the simplicity of switching between devices or a battery indicator. But they'll still do the job. When I briefly connected a pair of AirPods to an S7 Edge, a double-tap on either earbud paused and restarted the music.

Repeat this process on each device you want to use the AirPods with. If you run into issues during the pairing process, Apple suggests opening the lid and holding in the button on the back until the indicator light blinks amber. Let go of the button, close the lid, and try again.

6 apps to install on a new MacBook

2017-01-09T23:24:00.003+00:00

This six-pack of apps belongs on your Mac.

These are the first six apps I installed on my new MacBook Pro, from a text expander to a word processor, with four useful apps in between. All are free except the first, which costs only $5 and offers a free trial. Let's take them in alphabetical order.

aText

aText is a simple, text-expansion app that lets you create abbreviations for commonly typed words and phrases. With it, for example, I can type "@@" instead of my email address. Or "ty" instead of "thank you." It offers other features but it's worth the cost simply for a handful of keyboard shortcuts that saves me time each day.

aText costs $4.99 (£4.18 in the UK and AU$7.05 in Australia) and is available from Tran Ky Nam Software. You can try aText free for 14 days.

Making your own keyboard shortcuts in aText can save so much time.Photo by Matt Elliott/CNET

Chrome

It hogs more system resources than Safari, but I need Chrome because of its little favicons that let me -- at a quick glance -- make sense out of the dozens of tabs I have open at any given moment during the day. Until Safari adds favicons to its boring and uselessly gray tabs, I'm stuck with Chrome on my Mac.

Chrome is free and available from Google.

Dropbox

Apple is making strides with iCloud Drive, but I still can't quit my Dropbox habit. It remains my preferred method for moving files between my iPhone and Mac along with sharing files from my Mac to others. The Dropbox app integrates itself into Finder and adds a helpful menu bar icon for quick access.

Dropbox is free and available from Dropbox.com.

Dropbox is still a great way to upload files to the cloud and share them with others.

Photo by Matt Elliott/CNET

Flux

If you are enjoying Night Shift on your iPhone, then you'll like Flux for your Mac. It adjusts the color temperature of your Mac's display according to the time of day. So, cooler temperatures during the day when the sun is up, then warmer colors at sunset and even warmer at bedtime.

Flux is free and available from Download.com.

Itsycal

There are more powerful calendar apps than Itsycal, but I prefer Itsycal for its simplicity. It installs an icon in the menu bar that displays the current date. You can click on the Itsycal icon to see the full month. Itsycal also lets you link to the MacOS stock Calendar app and will display upcoming appointments, but you can't schedule appointments with Itsycal. That's fine by me since I like it just to be able to glance at my menu bar to see today's date.

Itsycal is free and available direct from developer Mowglii.

Itsycal is a very simple way to see your calendar.

Photo by Matt Elliott/CNET

LibreOffice

I need to work with Microsoft Word docs on occasion, and I think LibreOffice does a better job in approximating Word than Apple's Pages app. I don't use Word enough that I need to shell out forOffice for Mac, and the free LibreOffice is a suitable stand-in for Word if you don't need it on a daily basis (that's why God invented Google Docs).

LibreOffice is free as well as open-source, and available from The Document Foundation.

Google patches severe Android boot mode vulnerability

2017-01-09T23:05:00.003+00:00

The critical vulnerability left Android devices open to denial of service and privilege escalation attacks.

Symantec

Google has resolved a dangerous Android vulnerability which allowed attackers to reboot Nexus devices into custom boot modes, leading to spying and remote attacks.

Patched as part of Google's January Android security bulletin, the flaw, CVE-2016-8467, grants cyberattackers the ability to use PC malware or malicious chargers to reboot a Nexus 6 or 6P device and implement a special boot configuration, or boot mode, which instructs Android to turn on various extra USB interfaces.

According to IBM X-Force Application Security Research Team researchers Roee Hay and Michael Goberman, who revealed further details of the vulnerability in a blog post, the flaw gives attackers access to interfaces which offer additional control over a compromised device.

In particular, the Nexus 6 the modem diagnostics interface is of concern as accessing this platform gives attackers access to the modem, which compromises "confidentiality and integrity," the team says.

Once an attacker has gained access to the modem they can intercept phone calls, for example. It would also be possible to sniff mobile data packets and grab information including GPS coordinates of the device for tracking, place phone calls, steal call information and either access or change nonvolatile (NV) items or the EFS partition of a device.

IBM says that if Android Debug Bridge (ADB) is enabled on the device, PC malware or a malicious charger can boot the target device with the special boot mode configuration. Once connected, the user is forced to accept the PC or charger permanently, a few commands are issued, and the device is rebooted.

"Every future boot from this point forward will have the boot mode configuration enabled," IBM says. This means the attack is persistent and no longer requires ADB to run, although it still requires USB access."

"Therefore, the attacker only needs the victim to enable ADB once," the researchers added. "Moreover, a lucky attacker might wait for the device to be in fastboot mode, which requires no authorization from the victim. This, however, is less likely."

If attackers have physical access to the device, they can also reboot it into the custom boot mode manually.

These issues are less severe on the Nexus 6P due to firmware protections, however, a quirk in the device type means attackers can open ADB sessions even if the mode has been disabled.

In addition, due to the inclusion of additional USB interfaces in both device types, attackers can also access other interfaces to send or on SMS messages and potentially bypass two-factor authentication, escalate privileges, change radio settings and access a wide range of mobile device features.

Google has now patched the flaw by forbidding a locked bootloader to boot with the dangerous boot modes.

In December, researchers revealed that a new variant of Android malware called Gooligan was exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities to steal sensitive user data.

CES 2017: Acer's $9,000 Predator 21 X laptop is the exact opposite of 'thin and light'

2017-01-08T23:49:00.003+00:00

This isn't a laptop, but a high-end gaming desktop PC that happens to fold in two.

Acer Predator 21 X

"Thin and light" isn't compatible with a laptop that features a curved 21-inch display, dual GeForce GTX 1080 GPUs, and room for five storage drives.

Yeah, try cramming that into a MacBook chassis.

Acer used CES 2017 to unveil a crazy new gaming laptop aimed at people with deep pockets and strong backs to carry the laptop.

The Predator 21 X takes what is essentially a gaming desktop and crams it into a folding laptop-type shape. It starts with a 21-inch 2560 x 1080 resolution curved IPS display with a 120Hz refresh rate.

But this is just the beginning.

Powering this monstrous display is Intel's 3.9GHz seventh-generation Intel Core i7-7820HK silicon powerhouse, dual GeForce GTX 1080 X graphics cards, four DDR4 slots that can hold a maximum of 64GB of RAM, up to four 512GB solid-state drives (two of which can be NVMe PCIe SSDs which are five times faster than SATA SSDs), and a single hard drive bay which is home to a 1TB unit.

But that's not all. There's a full-sized mechanical keyboard featuring Cherry MX Brown key switches with customizable backlight options, a numeric keypad that flips over to reveal a precision touchpad, four speakers and two subwoofers, two power supplies, five AeroBlade cooling fans, and nine heat pipes.

All this is packed into a black shell that looks like it's been hacked out of granite or marble, which brings the total weight of the package to 19.4 pounds.

All you need is a spare $8,999 and this beast can be yours. The system is built to order and available in February.

Samsung Gear S, Gear Fit now compatible with iPhone

2017-01-08T23:41:00.002+00:00

Samsung wanders into enemy territory releasing Gear apps on the App Store.

CNET/CBS Interactive

Samsung on Saturday released iOS apps for its Gear S2, Gear S3, and Gear Fit2, for the first time making the Tizen-based smartwatches compatible with Apple's mobile platform.

When the Gear wearables are paired with iOS using Bluetooth, Samsung's apps manage and monitor features and applications installed through Gear Appstore.

"While features and functions will vary by device, iOS users will be able to enjoy the Samsung Gear S3's timeless and stylish design, IP68 water and dust resistance, as well as the built-in GPS, Alti/barometer and Speedometer apps," Samsung said in a statement.

"Users will also be able to track their fitness by monitoring distance and route traveled, running pace, calories burned and heart rate."

The move came at the end of the Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas, Na.

Cupertino's Apple Watch is not compatible with Android.

You can download the app for Gear S and Gear Fit on the App Store if you have an iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus or iPhone SE running iOS 9.0 or above

Google buys Limes Audio for better sound in Hangouts

2017-01-08T23:34:00.001+00:00

Google's acquisition brings on board tech to tackle distortion and echo on video calls and conferences, so you can hear who you're talking to.

Google has bought Limes Audio, which makes tech to battle noise, distortion and echoes on video calls.

Photo by Nicole Cozma/CNET

Google has bought Limes Audio, a company with technology to improve sound quality in video calls, to improve its conferencing products like Hangouts, according to a blog post Thursday.

The tech giant said audio quality -- "so that you can hear the person you're talking to, and they can hear you" -- is critical as more businesses adopt its videoconferencing services like Chromebox for Meetings and Hangouts.

Limes Audio's technology removes noise, distortion and echoes, which should help with problems like conference rooms' acoustics and poor internet connections, the company said.

Google has been energetic about video chat lately. With products like Hangouts and Chromebox already in place, it launched another rival to Microsoft's Skype and Apple's FaceTime last year. Called Duo, the app allows one-to-one video calling and has quirky features like Knock Knock, which offers a video preview of who's calling you.

Have a verified Twitter account? WikiLeaks might track you

2017-01-07T23:55:00.000+00:00

The document-leaking organization proposes a database to track verified users' personal details, like political party, family members and financial ties.

WikiLeaks, the organization that's published US diplomatic communications and purported emails from Hillary Clinton campaign chief John Podesta, has proposed tracking personal details of Twitter users with verified identities.

"We are thinking of making an online database with all 'verified' twitter accounts & their family/job/financial/housing relationships," the WikiLeaks Task Force said on Twitter on Friday. In another tweet it said, "We are looking for clear discrete (father/shareholding/party membership) variables that can be put into our AI software."

In response to a concern that such a move could harm privacy, WikiLeaks responded, "No it is to develop a metric to understand influence networks based on proximity graphs," and proceeded to defend the idea with further tweets. But later in the evening, the original controversial tweet describing the idea was deleted.

Verified accounts sport a blue checkmark to indicate Twitter has checked identification credentials to ensure Twitter users are who they say they are. It's widely used with celebrities, politicians and members of the press, but Twitter has expanded the verification program more widely.

Also on Friday, Twitter's Safety account tweeted that "posting another person's private and confidential information is a violation of the Twitter Rules."

WikiLeaks didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Twitter declined to comment beyond reiterating the Safety account information.

10 ways the iPhone changed everything

2017-01-07T23:45:00.005+00:00

The world is a different place a decade after Apple introduced its popular smartphone -- in both good and bad ways.

Ten years ago, Nokia was the world's largest phone maker. Microsoft was gearing up to launch Windows Vista. And the best new products at CES included a wireless TV and an MP3 player that streamed internet radio.

Then, on Jan. 9, 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled a device that went on to change the world -- a $499 iPhone that came with 4GB of storage. It was a mobile phone, a music player and an Internet device.

"iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone," Jobs said at the time.

Since then, Apple has sold more than 1.2 billion iPhones and has become the most profitable public company in the world. Copycat phones from companies like Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Xiaomi proliferated across the globe, and now even people in places without steady electricity have smartphones.

Apple unveiled the first iPhone on Jan. 9, 2007.

Photo by James Martin/CNET

"It's difficult to understate [the iPhone's] impact," Reticle Research analyst Ross Rubin said. "The ripples it has created affect wide swaths of our lives."

Here are some ways the iPhone has changed the way we live:

1. We're always on

It used to be you'd fire up your computer, wait for your Wi-Fi to connect (or your dialup connection, if we're going wayyy back) and open Internet Explorer, Safari or some other web browser. Now you're connected to the internet all the time. If you're not on Wi-Fi, you're linked through your cellular network.

It's not just inescapable connectivity that the iPhone helped bring about. It's also how we actually access the internet. The iPhone made mobile web browsing useful for the first time. Every other mobile web browser before that was painful, in the words of CNET's Kent German. Soon came a flood of apps, which removed the need to open a web browser at all.

2. Tablets, watches and headphones, oh my

Multiple devices are either tied to the iPhone or exist because the phone was created. There's the iPad, essentially a larger iPhone you use at home. And there's the Apple Watch, which is tethered to the iPhone.

Then there are all the accessories spurred by the popularity of the iPhone, like phone cases; Bluetooth speakers and headphones; and charging docks. ABI Research estimates that revenue in the global mobile accessories market will top $110 billion in 2021.

"Given users' attachment to their smartphones and their wants and needs to personalize and protect them, the aftermarket mobile accessories market is showing no signs of slowing down," ABI analyst Marina Lu said.

3. The key to appiness

You may not remember this now, but Apple's first iPhone didn't have such a thing as third-party apps or the App Store. That changed in July 2008, when Apple introduced the iPhone 3G and its iPhone 2.0 software.

The App Store is what made the iPhone a must-have device. There are now more than 2 million apps in the App Store, with essentially every company making one or more apps. And the iPhone and App Store have spawned industries that couldn't exist without smartphones. There'd be no Uber or Lyft to shuttle us from place to place, for instance, or Instagram or Snapchat for sharing our photos.

4. Everyone's a shutterbug

Sure, we had cameras on our phones before the iPhone. But the Apple gadget's combination of easy internet access and apps like Instagram inspired people's inner photographer.

As a result, lugging around an actual camera became redundant.

"We as a species take more pictures than we ever had in the past by an order of magnitude," Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart said.

5. Livin' live

The phone's camera also means you have a portable camcorder (remember those?) at your fingertips. And on top of that, the phone's connection lets you broadcast video immediately. That could mean talking to your family members on the other side of the country or shooting a cat video for YouTube. Or, thanks to services like Facebook Live or Periscope, the technology can be used for filming police brutality or instantly reporting something you've seen.

On the flip side, having these smart devices on us at all times lets law enforcement and corporations (like the makers of those apps on your phone) track us. Apple has taken a strong stance on privacy, but security remains a big concern for users.

6. Putting the digits in digital

Touchscreens once were rare. Now babies are swiping at TVs and wondering why the screen doesn't change. Interactive screens are in virtually everything, even refrigerators. When Jobs introduced the iPhone, he said, "We are all born with the ultimate pointing device -- our fingers -- and iPhone uses them to create the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse."

He was more right than he could imagine. The appeal of a touchscreen phone forced Microsoft to embrace touch in its software and get its hardware partners to make touchscreen phones, tablets and computers.

It's almost surprising to see a device today without a touchscreen (though Apple maintains it won't be putting touchscreens in its Mac computers).

7. You are here

The introduction of mapping on the iPhone meant you no longer had to feel like an embarrassed tourist in a new city, clutching a giant paper map on the street corner. Google Maps and Apple Maps are two of the most-used apps on the iPhone, and they've steadily added features over the years, like public transit directions.

8. Gaming goes to the next level

The iPhone reinvented the idea of mobile gaming. Apps like Angry Birds, that anyone could play using their fingers on the touchscreen, became hugely popular, and payment models changed. Many games are now free to play -- instead of charging a sales price, developers came up with the idea of in-app purchases, which let you pay for new levels and features as you go.

Seven of the top 10 grossing iPhone apps are games, like Pokemon Go, according to market tracker App Annie.

9. Cash ain't king

Apple wasn't the first company to talk about mobile payments, but it did make even your grandma aware of the technology, which lets you use your phone to purchase things. Goodbye, cash. Hello, iPhone. The iPhone's Wallet app also can store retail coupons, reward cards, and passes for flights and movies, all in one place.

Cash isn't dead yet -- there still are many places that don't take mobile payments -- but using your phone at the checkout stand is more common than ever.

10. But wait -- there's more

There's no way to sum up all that the iPhone did in just 10 points. So here's a grab bag of additional stuff.

Apple basically killed Adobe Flash on mobile devices and made endless scrolling a very good thing. You never have to carry a calculator or flashlight anymore, and visual voicemail lets you easily skip forward in a meandering message. Podcasts mean you don't have to listen to the radio in real time -- and they give you new options, such as the hit show "Serial."

Social media has also shifted heavily to mobile devices from desktop computers, letting people feel connected to friends at all times. Facebook said that in its most recent quarter, roughly 84 percent of its $6.82 billion in ad revenue came from mobile ads.

At the same time, the iPhone has been linked to the rise in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and short attention spans in kids. Governments use mobile devices to spy on their citizens, and consumers give up a lot of personal information in exchange for services like Uber rides.

But even with the negatives, don't try to take someone's iPhone away.

Please leave some of your thoughts in the comments section on how the iPhone has changed the way you live.

Which new Daydream VR phone is right for you? :Pixel vs. Moto Z vs. ZenFone AR vs. Mate 9 Pro vs. Axon 7

2017-01-07T23:18:00.000+00:00

Jealous that Pixel owners get to have all the VR fun? Pick up one of these newly compatible Android smartphones and you'll be Daydreamin' in no time

When Google revealed its Daydream View in October, it was announced alongside the Google Pixel and Pixel XL. These two "phones by Google" and headset were a match made in VR heaven in some ways, but that also meant you could only experience Daydream by using a Pixel.

After that, Google added compatibility to the Moto Z. Now it's expanding the list of Daydream-compatible phones a bit more with the Huawei Mate 9 Pro, Asus ZenFone AR and ZTE Axon 7.

If you're in the market for a Daydream phone, you have a few options to choose from. The six compatible phones bring different things to the table. For example, the Pixel phones will automatically get the latest Android updates as they're made available, while the Moto Z has the option to attach Moto Mod accessories. The three new phones offer their own unique features, like the dual cameras in the Mate 9 Pro, the dual SIM in the Axon 7 or Tango AR compatibility in the ZenFone AR. So which phone you pick depends on the features you want -- and the price, of course.

Luckily CNET's got your back and came up with the following chart for easy side-by-side comparison.

Which Daydream phone is right for you?

	Google Pixel	Google Pixel XL	Motorola Moto Z	Huawei Mate 9 Pro	Asus ZenFone AR	ZTE Axon 7
Display size, resolution	5-inch; 1,920x1,080 pixels	5.5-inch; 2,560x1,440 pixels	5.5-inch; 2,560x1,440 pixels	5.5-inch; 2,560x1,440 pixels	5.7-inch; 2,560x1,440 pixels	5.5-inch; 2,560x1,440 pixels
Pixel density	441 ppi	534 ppi	535 ppi	534 ppi	515 ppi	538ppi
Dimensions (inches)	5.7x2.74x0.34 (at its thickest)	6.1x2.98x0.34 (at its thickest)	6.11x2.96x0.2	5.98x2.95x0.3	6.25x3.06x0.35 (at its thickest)	5.97x2.9x0.31
Dimensions (millimeters)	143.8x69.54x8.58 (at its thickest)	154.7x75.74x8.58 (at its thickest)	155.3 x 75.3 x 5.19	152x75x7.5	158.6x77.7x8.95 (at its thickest)	151.8x75x8.7
Weight (ounces, grams)	5.04 oz; 143 g	5.92 oz; 168g	4.79 oz; 136 g	5.96 oz; 169g	6 oz; 170g	6.17 oz; 175 g
Mobile software	Android 7.1 Nougat	Android 7.1 Nougat	Android 6.0 Marshmallow	Android 7.0 Nougat	Android 7.0 Nougat	Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
Camera	12.3-megapixel	12.3-megapixel	13-megapixel	20-megapixel monochrome + 12-megapixel dual cameras	23-megapixel	20-megapixel
Optical Image Stablization	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Front-facing camera	8-megapixel	8-megapixel	5-megapixel	8-megapixel	8-megapixel	8-megapixel
Video capture	4K	4K	4K (30 fps)	4K	4K	4K
Processor	2.15GHz + 1.6GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821	2.15GHz + 1.6GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821	Up to 2.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820	2.4GHz + 1.8GHz octo-core Huawei Kirin 960	2.35Ghz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821	2.15GHz quad-core Snapdragon 820
Storage	32GB, 128GB	32GB, 128GB	32/64 GB	128GB	32GB, 64GB, 128GB, 256GB	64GB, 128GB (varies by region)
RAM	4GB	4GB	4GB	6GB	6GB / 8GB	4GB, 6GB
Expandable storage	None	None	up to 2TB	None	Up to 2TB	Up to 128GB
Battery	2,770mAh	3,450mAh	2,600 mAh (nonremovable)	4,000mAh	3,300mAh	3,140mAh
Fingerprint sensor	Back cover	Back cover	Below screen	Home button	Home button	Back cover
Connector	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C
Special features	Google Assistant built-in; unlimited cloud storage; Daydream VR-ready	Google Assistant built-in; unlimited cloud storage; Daydream VR-ready	Magnetic Moto Mod snap-on accessories and dedicated accessory port on back; Daydream VR-ready	Dual camera; dual-SIM; curved display; Daydream VR-ready	Tango AR depth camera; Daydream VR-ready	Dual-SIM option; Daydream VR-ready
Price off-contract (USD)	$649 (32GB); $749 (128GB)	$769 (32GB); $869 (128GB)	$624	$680 (converted from Chinese price)	TBD	$400
Price (GBP)	£599 (32GB); £699 (128GB)	£719 (32GB); £819 (128GB)	NA	£553 (converted from Chinese price)	TBD	£275
Price (AUD)	AU$1,079 (32GB); AU$1,229 (128GB)	AU$1,269 (32GB); AU$1,419 (128GB)	NA	AU$930 (converted from Chinese price)	TBD	AU$699

Be sure to check out the Google Daydream website for a list of compatible phones as they are added, and read CNET's thoughts on the Daydream View.

Google Assistant will soon let you bark commands at your Android TV

2017-01-07T00:36:00.000+00:00

Move over Siri and Apple TV, there's a new virtual assistant in smart TV town.

Android TV watchers rejoice, you'll soon be able to yell commands at your television set. Google on Wednesday announced via a blog that Google Assistant, its Siri-like virtual assistant, is coming to Android TV.

The feature, which allows you to use voice commands to play content, enquire about content or just ask how long the commute to work will take (if you haven't worked that out by yourself yet), will be available on Android TVs in the US that run Android 6.0 Marshmallow or Android 7.0 Nougat.

Nvidia announced at its CES 2017 press conference that its Nvidia Shield Android TV, available later this month, will be the first device to take advantage of the update.

"You'll also see the Assistant come to other new surfaces," wrote Google's Android TV director Sascha Pruete, "like smartwatches running Android Wear 2.0, Android-powered in-car infotainment systems and many other types of devices."

Here's how you can still get a free Windows 10 upgrade

2017-01-06T23:46:00.001+00:00

Microsoft's much-hyped free upgrade offer for Windows 10 ended months ago, right? Maybe not. The GWX tool may be gone, but all the other upgrade tools still work, and the end result is an apparently valid digital license. Here's how to get yours.

The Get Windows 10 upgrade nags have officially ended, but the offer remains valid, if you know where to look.

Everyone knows the free upgrade offer for Windows 10 ended on July 29, 2016, right?

That's when Microsoft officially ended the Get Windows 10 program and, to the relief of many, stopped forcing the GWX tool onto the PCs of unsuspecting users who were perfectly happy with their current version of Windows and had no desire to upgrade.

As of July 30, 2016, the upgrade notifications stopped and the GWX app began disappearing. In theory, that means the only way to get a Windows 10 upgrade is to pay for it.

The funny thing is, no one told the folks who run Microsoft's activation servers. Which means today, months after the free upgrade offer supposedly ended, you can still upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 and claim a free digital entitlement, without being forced to jump through any hoops.

You can also still upgrade Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Pro by using a product key from a previous business edition of Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 (Pro/Ultimate). That can save you $50-100 in OEM upgrade charges if you buy a new PC with Windows 10 Home preinstalled.

In this post, I'll cover the basics of a Windows 10 upgrade. I'll also talk about the licensing issues involved, which are (as always) confusing.

HOW TO UPGRADE AN OLD PC TO WINDOWS 10

Over the holidays, I did some end-of-year cleanup, including recycling an Intel small-form-factor PC that had previously been working full-time in the living room, running Windows Media Center on Windows 7 Ultimate. When I finally pulled the plug on Media Center last year, I had put this little device on a shelf.

The GWX utility had never been installed on this PC and it had never been offered a Windows 10 upgrade via Windows Update.

As part of my digital clean-up, I decided to run the Windows 10 upgrade from Windows 7. I fully expected that after the upgrade was complete, the system would fail activation and I'd be asked for a product key.

Imagine my surprise when, instead, I was greeted with this screen.

One digital license, no product key required.

I confirmed the same sequence on two different virtual machines, both created from scratch and running clean, fully activated installs of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, respectively. If you have a PC running a "genuine" copy of Windows 7/8/8.1 (properly licensed and activated), you can follow the same steps I did to upgrade it to Windows 10.

To get started, go to the Download Windows 10 webpage and click the Download tool now button. After the download completes, run the Media Creation Tool

You can upgrade directly using this tool, or create separate media.

If you've downloaded the Media Creation Tool on the machine you plan to upgrade, and you plan to upgrade one and only one PC, you can choose the Upgrade this PC now option and be done with it.

If you're running the tool on a different PC, or if you just want more flexibility, choose the second option and save the installation files to a USB drive or as an ISO file.

After the download is complete, mount the ISO file or open the flash drive in File Explorer and run Setup from there.

And then just follow the prompts to complete the upgrade. You will not be asked for a product key, and when the upgrade is complete, you'll have a digital license to Windows 10, which you can confirm by going to Settings > Update & security > Activation.

The digital license is tied to that device, which means you can reformat the disk and perform a clean installation of the same edition of Windows 10 anytime. You won't need a product key, and activation is automatic.

IS YOUR LICENSE VALID?

And now the big question: If you avail yourself of this upgrade, is the resulting license valid?

The entire "free upgrade" offer was always accompanied by language that was, to put it politely, a bit squishy. And the language around the end of that offer is similarly vague. For example, see the answers I've highlighted here on Microsoft's Windows 10 Upgrade FAQ:

The wording here is remarkably vague.

That's very odd language. The free upgrade through the Get Windows 10 app ended on July 29, 2016. Likewise, the discussion of product keys says a key will be necessary "for this tool to work" (not true) but doesn't say a word about licensing.

And unlike the weasely "Genuine Windows" label on older upgrades, the activation screens for a Windows 10 upgrade specifically confirm the existence of a "digital license."

Anyway, the free upgrade offer has been extended, indefinitely, at least for people who use assistive technologies. The FAQ on a separate page even calls it a "free upgrade offer extension" and pointedly notes that it is not limited to specific assistive technologies.

Personally, I'm a regular user of one assistive technology, the Magnifier built into Windows, which can be triggered by pressing Windows key + plus sign. That makes me eligible for a free upgrade on any device I use. Clicking the Upgrade Now button on that page kicks off an Upgrade Assistant that is functionally identical to the one used by the old GWX app.

This is, I think, a very large nod and wink, designed to make it easy for those who want a Windows 10 upgrade to still get it while placating the OEM partners who were none too happy about the year-long emphasis on upgrades rather than new PC sales.

Of course, I'm not a lawyer, and this column isn't legal advice. But I will say that I am personally confident in the activation status of my newly upgraded PC.

Ford wants to turn your car into a Wi-Fi hotspot

2017-01-05T22:45:00.004+00:00

4G-powered wireless internet service promised for later this year.

Lost your car? Soon your smartwatch will be able to help you to find it.

Image: Ford

Motor giant Ford is adding a built-in Wi-Fi hotspot to some of its models, beginning later this year.

The in-car Wi-Fi hotspot will use AT&T's 4G LTE network for connectivity and can support up to 10 devices at a time. When the vehicle is parked, the Wi-Fi is accessible from up to 50 feet away because of an external antenna, which improves the signal strength.

SYNC Connect Wi-Fi hotspot users can monitor data usage, signal strength and connected devices, plus block certain devices and change settings on the SYNC 3 touch screen. They can also use FordPass to view Wi-Fi data usage and link to AT&T's account management portal.

New car buyers of vehicles with the Wi-Fi hotspot -- which will go on sale in the autumn -- will get a trial subscription of three months or 3GB, whichever comes first, after which users will need an AT&T data plan.

Ford also noted: "Don't drive while distracted. Use voice-operated systems when possible, and don't use handheld devices while driving."

Companies like Ford are trying to take advantage of the increasing computing power embedded into vehicles to create new revenue streams, in a bid to diversify their business and move away from reliance on simply selling new vehicles.

The new service was announced at the CES show, where Ford also said its cars will be able to send messages to wearers of Samsung Gear S2 and S3 smartwatches via the new Gear Auto Link app, due in the spring.

After parking, drivers will receive a prompt on their smartwatch asking if they want to log the parking spot, which is picked up from the vehicle's GPS. For vehicles inside a parking garage, the driver can type the level, column and other location indicators into the watch, so that on their return to the vehicle, drivers can receive directions to navigate back to the parking spot using the watch.

Drivers can also use their smartwatch to stay alert by using the Gear to set chimes and voice alerts at three-, five-, 10-, 15- or 20-minute intervals while on the road. Ford said future versions of the app will vibrate the watch as an added way to help keep the driver alert.

The company also announced that it is building Amazon's Alexa voice-controlled digital assistant into some car models.

Like the sound of 10-gigabit internet everywhere? Then move to Estonia

2017-01-05T22:38:00.001+00:00

Nokia and Starman are working away on building Europe's first nationwide 10-gigabit residential network, which will cover Estonia.

50,000 customers in Estonia should receive 10Gbps internet within five years.

Image: Getty Images

Last summer, Finnish telecoms equipment firm Nokia and Starman, the largest cable operator in the Baltic states, announced they will be deploying Europe's first nationwide 10 Gigabit Ethernet passive optical network.

Just a few weeks before the 10G EPON deal was made public, Starman, which was bought by Finnish telco Elisa for €151m ($157m) in mid-December, said it is taking 10-gigabit network tests from the lab into the field.

Starman CTO Jaanus Erlemann says in the current situation the company is definitely not in a hurry, because the goal is to work out the best and most reliable solution for the long term.

"Our current DOCSIS3.0 network is of very high quality and we're able to provide a 500Mbps downstream service all across our footprint. This gives us ample room for conducting thorough tests on the new EPON technology without having to rush," Erlemann tells ZDNet.

He hopes that the higher network speeds available to customers in the near future could also encourage content providers to improve their production technology and broadcasting capabilities to provide full HD or even next-level content.

Experience from the US, where the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, introduced the world's first 10-gigabit internet service across a large community-wide territory, suggests that the high-speed technology can create new jobs and millions in economic and social benefits.

Erlemann stresses that the mere launch of new technology is not a goal in itself. What really matters is the eventual quality of service and giving customers added value.

"Of course we do have internal deadlines and plans but we'd like to officially announce any specific future plans at a time when we've conducted all the necessary tests of the technology and procedures and we're ready for a wider rollout," he says.

Erlemann acknowledges that being the first on the field might require more resources because Starman won't be able to learn from other companies' mistakes. But it is ready to take that risk.

The firm values the opportunity to develop new technology with Nokia to keep the company at the edge of the innovation.

"Obviously Nokia is having contacts with various European cable operators. But I'm glad the cooperation between Nokia and Starman is the very first cooperation made public in Europe. During the tests our teams are jointly going through various business and technical use cases, looking for the best solutions and practices for the future network," he says.

Constantly creating software for the various system components takes time and resources from both partners, but Erlemann believes it gives Starman specialists valuable experience for future network development and maintenance.

"From our cooperation of the past half year I can say with confidence that this is truly the best way to learn and develop competences," he says.

Nokia was chosen as a partner, because after analyzing different options Starman decided to move on with the Turbo EPON option instead of GPON, which is strongly represented in the portfolios of other technology producers such as Huawei and ZTE.

"If I had to name a few reasons why EPON technology developed by Nokia was chosen, it's the availability of DPoE [DOCSIS provisioning over Ethernet], a cost-efficient upgrade to 10G EPON, and, as a very important factor, Nokia's commitment to support Starman throughout the project in competence development," he says.

"It's not Starman implementing EPON in Estonia but it's Starman and Nokia jointly building next-generation access network in Estonia."

Starman has set a goal of bringing the 10-gigabit network to at least 50,000 customers in Estonia in five years. Because the new network is very reliable and its maintenance relatively cheap, the company is planning to create a model for cooperation with the public sector, so it can also be expanded to remote rural areas.

"Expansion of a high-capacity network outside the cities or densely-populated areas is actually not so much related to the choice of any particular technology or vendor. It's first and foremost a commercial question," he says.

"For network development in scarcely-populated regions, one needs to find the best model for both end user and service provider to cover the investment. In short, a viable business model, in cooperation with the private and public sector, should be found for connecting customers on the last mile."

The company's calculations show that investments in fiber-optic network conversion in brownfield sites will pay off in about four years, not taking into account related one-off investments and reduction in the cost of operations.

The good news for customers is they shouldn't expect a significant rise in the prices of services from the introduction of 10-gigabit internet.

"Here the main questions are about commercial decisions and value added to the customers. Merely offering a different technology, while the service parameters and value for customers remain the same, should not bring along a change in the service price. But there should be new opportunities and service quality offered to the customer," Erlemann says.

15 Super Mario Run tips to get your game on point

2017-01-05T22:30:00.002+00:00

Use these tips to become a Super Mario Run legend ... or just impress your friends.

Even if your gaming skills haven't been finely honed since the first Super Mario Bros., you can overcome level after level of Super Mario Run with these tips.

1. Master the tap

To truly master the game you need to hone your jumping skills. But remember: a jump isn't just a jump. A quick tap on the screen causes a short jump, for example. If you hold your finger down on the screen, though, your jump will be much higher.

2. Mega jump

If you can't quite jump high enough to reach that coin, hit jump again while you're mid-air. It will boost Mario just a little higher, giving you just the edge you need. For the most height, wait until Mario is just about to descend and then hit jump again.

The right jump can make a huge difference in how well you play the game.Photo by Sarah Tew/CNET

3. Boost even more

Another way to blast high into the sky is to hit jump just as you land on an enemy. You'll get a big launch in the air.

4. Pause it

No matter how addictive Super Mario Run is, sometimes your finger gets tired. Luckily, throughout the game, there are red blocks you can use to pause the action. When you get to a red block, don't jump over it!

Position Mario so that he runs over the red block. He will stop on top of it and chill until you're ready to go again. The clock pauses too, giving you the time to look around and form a strategy.

5. Bubble up

Aww, man. Did you miss something in a level and want to go back? Hit the bubble button at the top of the screen to be transported a few seconds backwards. Tap on the bubble to pop it right where you want Mario to land. Think of it as your personal redo button.

You have a limited amount of bubbles though, so use them wisely. To get more bubbles, make sure to hit the question mark bricks.

6. Unlock some friends

Getting bored of the mustachioed plumber? You can unlock other friends from the Mario world. Each one has their own abilities. For example, Peach can float and Luigi can jump extra high.

You can unlock Toad by linking your My Nintendo account to the game. Playing Toad Rally and building your Mushroom Kingdom can unlock other characters. Gain coins in the rallies and use them to buy homes for the gang in the Mushroom Kingdom to unlock each character.

To use other characters, tap on the character icon when choosing a level.

7. Hammer time!

If you've gotten hammer rewards throughout the game, you can use them to destroy Thwomps (the scary looking stone cubes) in your kingdom. Open the Build menu, tap on the hammer icon and tap on the Thwomp to knock it out of existence.

8. Parkour

Come to a wall and don't know what to do? Jump! A well-timed jump will send you up the wall. If you're between two walls, Mario will bounce between the walls, getting progressively higher. This also works if you want to go into a pit to find hidden coins. Just fall in and bounce yourself from wall to wall to get out.

9. Get down with your bad self

If you want to jump down from a wall, swipe left during a jump and Mario will descend. This also works if Mario is jumping and you decide the jump was a bad idea. Swiping left can also make you stall in mid-air for a split second, which can be a useful strategy move.

Photo by Sarah Tew/CNET

10. Back-jump for Boo coins

Jumping backwards on a Boo can unlock extra coins. To jump backwards, jump onto a wall and hit jump again when you connect with the wall.

11. Become a star

One of the keys to Toad Rally is coin collecting. To get the most out of your run, be sure to snag stars. They will make the coins you pass fly to you, giving you a huge boost in coinage.

12. Impress Toads every day

Play Toad Rally every day. If you do, you'll get a reward. You can find your rewards in the My Nintendo screen.

13. Keep Toads happy

Be sure your kingdom includes Toad houses. Toads will produce coins for you each day, making your supply more bountiful.

14. Get a bonus house

Get a bonus level house by playing World Tour mode. Then, play it once a day to get coins and Toad Rally tickets.

15. Check your colors

If you need a Toad of a certain color, only challenge other players in Toad Rally whose username is the same color as the Toad you need.

CES 2017: Hands-on with the dual camera $250 Honor 6X

2017-01-05T01:06:00.001+00:00

Huawei starts off the new year with the 5X successor, the Honor 6X, that brings a dual camera experience with a long battery life and sleek all-aluminum form factor to the US market.

Huawei is bringing the Honor 6X to the US with some important upgrades while keeping the price low at just $249.99.

Huawei announced the Honor 6X in China on 18 October 2016 and today made the US release announcement at CES in Las Vegas. The Honor 6X packs in a lot of smartphone at an affordable price and I've spent the last 10 days testing one out.

HARDWARE

In 2016, my favorite smartphone hardware maker was Huawei. There's something about 2.5D glass, beveled metal edges, an extremely fast rear fingerprint scanner, and solid performing camera. The Honor 8 is an incredible device that can be found for just around $300 with near-flagship specifications. The Honor 6X is a bigger phone and competes in the large display market with specs that are near flagship level.

Rather than having a rear beveled edge on the back of the Honor 6X, we see that Huawei took the sides and curved it into the back panel so the phone fits well in your hand. The dual cameras are positioned on top of each other, like the Mate 9, and also have a bump that sticks out the back. The fingerprint sensor is centered below the cameras.

The SIM/microSD card slot tray is on the left with the volume and power buttons on the right. The mono speaker and microUSB port are found on the bottom. An IR port and the 3.5mm headset jack are on top.

Specifications of the Honor 6X include:

Processor: HiSilicon Kirin 655 octa-core
Display: 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution IPS LCD, 403 ppi
Operating system: Emotion UI 4.1 built on Android 6.0 Marshmallow
RAM: 3 GB
Storage: 32 GB internal storage with microSD storage card
Cameras: 12 megapixel and 2 megapixel dual rear cameras. 8 megapixel front facing camera
Wireless technology: FM radio, NFC, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1
Battery: 3,340 mAh battery with fast charging technology
Dimensions: 150.9 x 76.2 x 8.2 mm and 162 grams

The Honor 8 has an USB Type-C port, but the Honor 6X still has a microUSB port on the bottom for charging up the device. You will still find a 3.5mm headset jack, as well as a FM radio.

The camera performs well and may be one of the best I've ever used at this price point. I included inside, exterior, outside sunset, and wide aperture photos from the Huawei Mate 9 and Honor 6X in my image gallery below. The Honor 6X will likely satisfy most folks, especially if photos are just shared on social networks.

SOFTWARE

The Honor 6X runs Emotion UI 4.1 and Honor stated it will be upgraded to version 5.0 in the future. While some people have issues with EMUI, I find it to be a functional UI that adds to Android without being overly complicated or obtrusive.

There is no app drawer in EMUI 4.1, but you can always install something like the Google Now Launcher and be satisfied with the home screen experience. The software performs the same as the Honor 8 so check out that review if you are interested in EMUI 4.1.

One aspect of the dual camera Huawei devices like the P9, Mate 9, and Honor 8 is the advanced camera software. While the iPhone and Google Pixel devices have a very basic camera user interface, Honor brings an advanced experience similar to what we see on Samsung and LG phones. You will find wide aperture mode, professional mode, food mode, perfect selfie, beauty mode, makeup mode for the front camera, panorama, HDR, watermark, audio note, ultra snapshot, best photo, smile snapshot, audio control, timer function, touch to capture, and time-lapse mode.

Honor is a brand that targets millennials and believes that providing slick camera functions is better than a simple automatic interface. I personally enjoy using some of these modes and get more comments from people when I take unique shots using these modes.

INITIAL EXPERIENCES

I've had the Honor 6X in hand for about 10 days and if I wasn't such a flagship-loving smartphone user I could easily get by with a device like the Honor 6X. People who are looking for great value and solid specifications may want to consider the 6X. It's nice to have a smartphone that lasts a couple of days and helps you be creative with photography.

The Honor 6X has dual cameras for faster focus and wide aperture tricks. The main rear camera is a 12 megapixel shooter, but the second one is only 2 megapixels. It is not a monochrome lens like the Huawei P9 and Mate 9, but is a color one that is used to improve focus times and provide wide aperture effects.

Huawei has some fantastic hardware design language and the Honor 6X continues that trend. It definitely does not feel like a low price Android smartphone and thankfully it also performs better than you would expect for a mid-level device.

People looking for a big screen phone at a very affordable price will appreciate the Honor 6X. It will be available on Amazon, Newegg, ebay, and other online retailers with in-store available in Best Buy, Costco, and others. You will be able to purchase the Honor 6X for $249.99 in gray, gold, and silver.

iOS 10.2: Tips and hidden secrets

2017-01-05T00:52:00.001+00:00

Most of these tips should work on all iPhones or iPads that support iOS 10.2, but note that some are only available on newer devices.

Uncover some of the cool new features hidden in iOS 10.2.

Here is a quick rundown of some of the new features contained in the latest iOS 10.2 update that you might have missed.

While most of these features should be available on all devices that support iOS 10, some will only be available on newer devices.

ALLOW SELECTED CONTACTS TO BYPASS DO NOT DISTURB

The VIP system for allowing selected contacts to still call you has been improved dramatically in iOS 10. Now you can pick out contacts that can make your phone ring individually.

Go into Contacts, select a contact, and click Edit. From there, you can set the ringtone and text tone to Emergency Bypass On.

DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR?

Fire up Apple Maps to find where you parked your car. If it's not immediately obvious from the little car icon on the map, you can search for Parked car.

SEND SMALLER PHOTOS IN IMESSAGE

Go to Settings > Messages and enable Low Quality Image Mode.

If you send a lot of photos and you're either having poor signal or you're not on an unlimited data plan, this can be really helpful.

TIME FOR BED

This is a weird feature that people will either love or hate. If you're the sort of person who likes to have a certain number of hours of sleep before your alarm goes off, you can now have your iPhone remind you when to go to bed. (I know, how did we manage before such things?)

To enable this feature, open the Clock app and tap Bedtime.

CONVERT TEXT TO EMOJIS

The Messages app will highlight the words you can swap out for an emoji in orange, and you can emojify a message by simply tapping on the words.

PRIORITIZE APP INSTALLATIONS

If you're recovering your iPhone or installing multiple apps, you can control which apps are installed first by doing a long press on any app waiting to be downloaded on the home screen and then tapping the Prioritize Download option.

This requires a device with 3D Touch.

BETTER IMESSAGE READ RECEIPTS

Now you can set your read receipt preferences by clicking on the "I" icon found at the top-right of iMessage window, then turn read receipts on or off.

This setting syncs across all your devices.

JAZZ UP YOUR MESSAGES

If you're sending a message to other iPhone or iPad users using iMessage then you can animate the message to give it a bit more impact. Just press and hold the send message blue arrow to uncover Bubble and Screen options.

DRAW YOUR MESSAGE

Again in iMessage, rotate your device by 90 degrees to get access to an option that allows you to draw your message and send it to other iMessage users.

FIND YOUR APPLE WATCH

I know a lot of people requested this feature, and now it's present as part of Find My iPhone.

MAKE UNLOCK WORK THE WAY IT USED TO

Apple tweaked the way you unlock your iPhone with the Touch ID sensor, but if this new feature annoys you there is a way to make it work like it did in iOS 9.

Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Home Button and enable Rest Finger to Open.

DELETE THOSE UNDELETABLE APPS

Apple's own apps used to be a fixed feature, and the best you could do was hide them from view. But now you can delete apps such as Main, Stocks, and Weather just like you'd delete any other app (and if you change your mind, they're in the App Store).

BRIGHT LIGHTS!

You can now alter the brightness of the flashlight by using a long press on the flashlight icon in Control Center to choose between Bright Light, Medium Light, and Low Light.

This requires a device with 3D Touch.

GET TO THE CAMERA -- FAST!

The icon might be gone, but you can still get to the camera from the lock screen. All you need to do is swipe left.

SEARCH YOUR PHOTOS

From Memories in the Photos app you can search for photos containing particular objects. This is also quite spookily accurate.

EASY UNSUBSCRIBE

Mail automatically floats unsubscribe links from mailing list emails to the top, so you can find them easily.

AVOID TOLL ROADS

If you're a heavy user of Apple Maps and want to save yourself a few bucks then you might want to go into Settings > Maps > Driving & Navigation to turn off the tolls.

SAVE ON STORAGE SPACE

If you're low on space you can get iOS 10 to remove music you've not listened to in a while by going to Settings > Music > Optimize Storage and enabling Optimize Storage.From here you can pick how much free space you want to try to keep on your iPhone or iPad.

Windows 10 tip: The fastest, smartest ways to open a Command Prompt window

2017-01-05T00:26:00.004+00:00

Every Windows power user knows that a Command Prompt window is often the quickest way to get things done. For some tasks, in fact, it's the only way. Here's a collection of ways to get to the command line quickly.

Every version of Windows includes its own command processor, Cmd.exe. Opening that application gives you access to the full range of command-line tools and utilities in Windows.

The slow way to open this essential power user's tool is to dig through the Start menu (Start > Windows System > Command Prompt). Here are a handful of faster ways that also give you control over startup folders and whether you run the command session as an administrator.

Right-click Start and choose Command Prompt or Command Prompt (Admin) from the Quick Links menu. You can also use keyboard shortcuts for this route: WIndows key + X, followed by C (non-admin) or A (admin).
Type cmd in the search box, then press Enter to open the highlighted Command Prompt shortcut. To open the session as an administrator, press Alt+Shift+Enter.
From File Explorer, click to select the contents of the address bar and then type cmd and press Enter. That opens a non-admin Command Prompt session in the current folder.
In a File Explorer window, hold down Shift as you right-click on a folder or drive. That opens a non-admin Command Prompt session in the selected location.
To open an administrative Command Prompt window in the current folder, use this hidden Windows 10 feature: Navigate to the folder you want to use, then tap Alt, F, M, A (that keyboard shortcut is the same as switching to the File tab on the ribbon, then choosing Open command prompt as administrator).

If you're a PowerShell user, you can open a Command Prompt session from PowerShell by typing cmd and pressing Enter. To return to PowerShell, type exit and press Enter.

Dropped your phone into water, mud, soup, or even beer? Here's how you might be able to save it

2017-01-03T22:28:00.003+00:00

Here's a service that boasts a success rate of 84 percent, which is a much higher chance of saving your phone than the popular internet trick of putting it into a bag of rice.

Redux

It seems that people drop their phones a lot, and they seem to drop them more often when they're around the toilet, puddles, or even pints of beer. There are a number of tricks on the web that claim to be able to suck the moisture out of your device, but in my experience they have a less than 50:50 chance of working.

Enter Redux.

Redux is a lunchbox-sized device that can bring back to life liquid-damaged phones. The device has revived phones damaged by beer, mud, and even soup, and the company boasts a success rate of 84 percent.

Redux works by using a combination of vacuum pressure and heat to revive the wet phone or tablet. The device is then removed and partially charged to be assessed for success. The process can remove all forms of liquid -- not just water -- and it takes less than an hour.

Pricing for the successful recovery of a device is $50 for a basic phone or a data device and $90 for a smartphone, in addition to a $10 diagnostic fee. If your handset is not recoverable, you're only down the $10 diagnostic fee.

If you're particularly clumsy, then Redux offers a $29.99 membership program that comes with two free device recoveries in the price.

In order to give you the best chance of recovering your water-damaged phone, Redux recommend that:

You turn off the device immediately
If possible, remove the battery (some devices like iPhones do not have removable batteries)
Do not charge the device or put it in rice
Take the device to the nearest Redux center ASAP

Nearly 700 Verizon Wireless stores nationwide are now offering the Redux service.

Blink, First Take: Good-value security camera system for homes and small businesses

2017-01-03T22:19:00.002+00:00

Security systems can be expensive, so this relatively low-cost modular offering from Blinkcould fit the bill for some businesses. When I met up with the company, representatives noted that while the system is primarily marketed for home use, it could equally suit a small office.

The price is certainly compelling: a one camera setup costs £109.99 (inc. VAT, or $99 in the US). There are also two-camera (£189.99/$169) and three-camera bundles (£259.99/$229). Additional cameras can be added as required for £89.99, or $75 in the US.

The AA-powered Blink security camera (top) and mains-powered Sync Module (bottom).

Image: Sandra Vogel/ZDNet

A setup involves one or more cameras, each powered by a pair of AA batteries that should last at least two years, and a mains-powered Sync Module that provides the internet connection. Both cameras and Sync Module are configured through, and provide information to, an Android or iPhone app.

The app can act as the control centre for more than one setup, each with its own Sync Module. So someone could cover their home, another home (say an elderly relative), a holiday home (don't we all have one of those?) and work premises, all from one app. You can buy additional Sync Modules for $50 in the US, but these are not currently available separately on the UK website.

Blink gave me a two-camera system for review, which I tested at home.

Setup is straightforward, with the app (Android in my case) walking you through the configuration process step by step. This involves entering the Sync Module's unique serial number into the app or scanning its QR code and then connecting to the module via wi-fi. This disconnects normal wi-fi, but reconnection is built into the configuration process, and if the wi-fi password is to hand the process takes literally just a couple of minutes. The Sync Module can be connected to wi-fi by Ethernet if you prefer, but as it needs access to mains power this may not be convenient.

Cameras are added individually via their unique serial numbers, and again the process is fast and straightforward. My two-camera system was ready for action in about 15 minutes.

More time consuming is locating the cameras to get the best possible view of an area, and configuring them through the app. Getting the right location can involve a bit of fiddling with positioning, although the camera's wide field of view is helpful. Each camera comes with a hinged mount to help you get the perfect positioning -- if you don't mind making a permanent fixing.

Video capture starts as soon as motion is detected. Clips are saved on a server and Blink says there's no limit on storage. It's up to the user to manage old clips, deleting those that are no longer wanted, saving any that are needed away from the server. Blink makes no ongoing charge for server storage.

Blink's functionality is fairly basic, with recorded video clips currently limited to just 10 seconds.
Image: Sandra Vogel/ZDNet

An alert is sent to the app every time a clip is saved, so it's possible to view a clip within a few minutes of it being taken. Sound is recorded as well, although I found that volume could be quite low. Video quality is captured at 720p and provides enough definition to see what's going on.

To avoid getting masses of clips of yourself as you wander through the camera's field of view, you can arm and disarm individual cameras. This is easily done either by using an on/off slider or by setting up timers for each camera. If you know nobody is in between certain hours of the day, then that's the time frame within which to arm the camera. There's no Netatmo Welcome-style face recognition here.

Be aware of pets. I got multiple cat-movement alerts, and there are only so many times I want to watch one of my feline friends wandering around the front room.

You can also use the app to take a still shot from any camera and to see a live feed. Unfortunately you can't shoot video while watching a feed, so if there's an intruder while you're doing a virtual tour you'll have to turn the feed off and hope they move into shot again.

There are some other issues too. Clips are limited to 10 seconds at present, although I was told the limit will soon be raised to a minute. There's a lag between one clip finishing and another starting, and it's long enough for someone to leave the monitored space and/or do something the camera can't record.

Perhaps the biggest issue is camera lights. A small blue LED comes on when a clip is being shot, and in low light the light the camera turns on an LED that, at the user-set lowest intensity, is bright enough to draw attention. Both lights are a massive 'hello' to anyone lurking about who doesn't want to be caught snooping.

In the end Blink might not offer what you need for a home security system at the present time. It's easy to set up and easy to control from afar, but there are some issues and these do compromise its effectiveness.

Still, it's early days, and Blink seems keen to add new features and clearly has a roadmap for development. If the company takes comments on-board, this could be one to watch.

CES 2017: Kingston unveils 'world's highest capacity USB flash drive'

2017-01-03T22:11:00.004+00:00

Kingston's new DataTraveler Ultimate GT comes in 1TB and 2TB configurations.

Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate GT

Kingston

Imagine being able to carry a whopping 70 hours of 4K video in your pocket. Kingston makes this a reality.

The new DataTraveler Ultimate GT -- the GT stands for Generation Terabyte -- is the world's highest capacity USB flash drive, and comes in 1TB and 2TB offerings for those who want to transport large amounts of data with them without relying on hard drives or cloud storage.

On top of the high storage capacity, the new drive is USB 3.1 Gen 1 compatible, which means excellent read/write performance.

Kingston's DataTraveler Ultimate GT offers superior quality in a high-end design as it is made of a robust zinc-alloy metal casing for shock resistance. I own a number of the previous-generation Kingston DataTraveler flash drives and can attest to how robust and reliable they are.

"At Kingston, we push the limits of what's possible," said Jean Wong, Flash business manager. "With the DataTraveler Ultimate GT, we empower users to increase their data storage mobility in a highly manageable form factor. This is a terrific follow up to our 1TB drive released in 2013 and by doubling the capacity, users can store and carry even larger amounts of data easily."

The Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate GT will ship in February 2017, but there's no word yet as to pricing (you'll probably need to be sitting down when you see it).

Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate GT specifications:

Capacities: 1TB, 2TB
Speed: USB 3.1 Gen. 1
Dimensions: 72mm x 26.94mm x 21mm
Operating Temperature: -25°C to 60°C
Storage Temperature: -40°C to 85°C
Warranty: 5-year warranty with free technical support
Compatible with: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 (SP1), Mac OS 10.9.x and above, Linux v.2.6.x and above, Chrome OS

LG's stick vacs spin faster than an airplane engine, lasts 80 minutes

2017-01-02T23:37:00.000+00:00

LG's newest stick vac looks to bring an extra dose of power to mobile cleaning. With a motor that supposedly turns 16 times faster than an airplane engine, the LG CordZero Stick Vacuum also packs in two removable batteries and a telescoping handle to help you reach corners.

On display at CES in Las Vegas this week, the CordZero stick has lots of other impressive-sounding features:

Five-step HEPA filtration system
140 AW of suction
Axial Turbo Cyclone to capture fine dust
Anti-tangle brush roll

All of that certainly sounds fancy, and supposedly the battery lasts a full 80 minutes. If LG's new stick can genuinely clean like an upright and run for that long, it'll be a nice buy indeed. The feature list doesn't convince me, though. I'll want to test these stick vacs myself when they come out this year to see if they measure up to another powerful brand that uses cyclone filtration -- Dyson.

LG also announced the upcoming US availability of its CordZero Canister Vacuum that follows you around. We got a first look at that vac last year, and I'm glad a release date is becoming more concrete: It'll supposedly go on sale this summer.

LG hasn't announced pricing for either the stick vac or the canister. Check back for more information throughout the week.

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LibreOffice

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10 ways the iPhone changed everything

1. We're always on

2. Tablets, watches and headphones, oh my

3. The key to appiness

4. Everyone's a shutterbug

5. Livin' live

6. Putting the digits in digital

7. You are here

8. Gaming goes to the next level

9. Cash ain't king

10. But wait -- there's more

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Which Daydream phone is right for you?

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HOW TO UPGRADE AN OLD PC TO WINDOWS 10

IS YOUR LICENSE VALID?

Ford wants to turn your car into a Wi-Fi hotspot

Like the sound of 10-gigabit internet everywhere? Then move to Estonia

15 Super Mario Run tips to get your game on point

1. Master the tap

2. Mega jump

3. Boost even more

4. Pause it

5. Bubble up

6. Unlock some friends

7. Hammer time!

8. Parkour

9. Get down with your bad self

10. Back-jump for Boo coins

11. Become a star

12. Impress Toads every day

13. Keep Toads happy

14. Get a bonus house

15. Check your colors

CES 2017: Hands-on with the dual camera $250 Honor 6X

HARDWARE

SOFTWARE

INITIAL EXPERIENCES

iOS 10.2: Tips and hidden secrets

DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR?

SEND SMALLER PHOTOS IN IMESSAGE

TIME FOR BED

CONVERT TEXT TO EMOJIS

PRIORITIZE APP INSTALLATIONS

BETTER IMESSAGE READ RECEIPTS

JAZZ UP YOUR MESSAGES

DRAW YOUR MESSAGE

FIND YOUR APPLE WATCH

MAKE UNLOCK WORK THE WAY IT USED TO

DELETE THOSE UNDELETABLE APPS

BRIGHT LIGHTS!

GET TO THE CAMERA -- FAST!

SEARCH YOUR PHOTOS

EASY UNSUBSCRIBE

AVOID TOLL ROADS

SAVE ON STORAGE SPACE

Windows 10 tip: The fastest, smartest ways to open a Command Prompt window

Dropped your phone into water, mud, soup, or even beer? Here's how you might be able to save it

Blink, First Take: Good-value security camera system for homes and small businesses

CES 2017: Kingston unveils 'world's highest capacity USB flash drive'

Have a verified Twitter account? WikiLeaks might track you