Tech24H

VSCO Cam equips iPads for its style of mobile photo editing

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 02:10:00 +0000

VSCO Cam has been a popular choice for smartphone photo edits on iOS, and more recently Android, for quite some time.

When the outfit sought to update its app for the latest version of Apple's mobile OS, it went a step further: properly equipping the iPad to be a better editing option. As a VSCO Cam user, the most useful part of version 4.0 is the Preset Gallery that allows you to view multiple filters side-by-side before making a selection. It takes advantage of the increased screen real estate too, while letting you modify, undo and view all the tweaks in a handy Edit History. There's also a new web uploader for getting your shots from a computer to a mobile device, and thanks to Sync, selected photos can be accessed across that mobile device fleet. Don't worry about downsizing in the process either: the full-res files are transferred back and forth, even massive DSLR images from Nikon's D800 and the like. Thanks to iOS 8, VSCO Cam lets you adjust manual focus, shutter speed, white balance and exposure when capturing images, similar to other photo apps for Apple devices.

Don't worry Android users, that Sync feature will work on your gadgets, too. In fact, Android version 3.1 plays nice with the desktop tool, so you can get photos to your phone for easy editing. While all of the features for iPad aren't yet available on Google's mobile OS, VSCO says that some of the work has already been done (Sync, etc.). Continuing to bring the tablet experience on Android on par with releases for Apple slates is certainly priority, so hopefully that Preset Gallery makes an appearance soon. If you fancy HTC's Duo Focus feature, support for it is included in this version of VSCO Cam, too.

While you won't be using the free app to make edits for that professional project, the fact that the app now plays nice with iPads means you could make some tweaks to those vacation photos from the couch on a more comfy screen. In fact, that's the sort of thing the folks at VSCO have in mind. And for more robust pro-style edits, there's film packs for Lightroom, Photoshop and Adobe Camera Raw. The company's community features got a boost as well. Grid and Journal are already a means of sharing photos and nabbing inspiration from other users, and now you can pair your snapshots with text for entires with that latter tool. Until now, Journal was only available in beta, but it's available for all users to use VSCO Cam images to tell their stories with today's release. Updates for both iOS and Android are now available via iTunes and Google Play.

Blackberry fans line up here: pre-orders for the new Classic are open

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 10:55:00 +0000

Platform loyal BBM addicts have a new device to consider -- other than the Passport -- now that Blackberry is taking pre-orders for its upcoming phone.

The Classic (aka Q20) brings the design, keyboard and trackpad users are used to, plus a large square touch screen, the latest version of BlackBerry OS and support for Android apps. Currently only a GSM version is available (no Verizon, Sprint or US Cellular support here) in the US for $450 and shipments are expected to start in mid-December. Oddly, BlackBerry hasn't revealed more details or specs about the phone, but those should be revealed closer to its release. Our best look at the phone came from this leak, feel free to take a look back before deciding to whether to place an order.

Aviary's first update under Adobe brings Creative Cloud sync, free add-ons

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 06:58:00 +0000

Back in September, Adobe snatched up Aviary to pad its mobile portfolio, and the photo-editing app has released its first major post-acquisition update.

In what will come as no surprise, Aviary now syncs all of your in-app tools with Creative Cloud after you sign in with a requisite Adobe ID. What's more, those effects, stickers and more that usually require shelling out funds are free until the end of the month -- all $200 worth. Stencil overlays (another in-app purchase) and vignettes make their debut alongside adjustments for fade, highlights, shadows and tint via easy to use slider controls. Finally, the iOS versiongets a revamped Draw tool that offers a more natural feel. Both that and the Androidupdate are ready for download, and if you're looking to test drive 'em, Aviary is free via the respective app repositories.

Samsung faces the bad news: sales of its high-end phones are sliding

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 07:22:00 +0000

Confirming its own estimates from earlier this month, Samsung announced tonight that it accumulated an operating profit of $3.9 billion in Q3.

That's not a bad haul for most companies in the July to September period, but last year Samsung proudly celebrated a record profit of $9.6 billion and now it's down to less than half that. Now the company is breaking down the reasons behind the drop, and everything starts with the flagship Galaxy S smartphones. Reuters notes that phones drove its growth over the last couple of years, but profits in that area dropped from 6.7 trillion Korean won last year, to 1.75 trillion in the same period this year.

That drop came as a result of price cuts for older phones and "declined shipments" of high-end models. Even slightly higher sales of midrange smartphones apparently weren't enough to right the ship, and the Galaxy Note 4 hasn't been on sale long enough to contribute. Worse, the phone sales have an effect across the company for its display, memory and CPU businesses. It expects to sell more Ultra HD and curved TVs to close out 2014, but investors will likely be more interested in how it responds to cheaper Chinese phone manufacturers.

Next Office for Mac leaks, shots of UI appear

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 02:55:00 +0000

A Chinese website yesterday published what it claimed were screenshots of Microsoft's next edition of Office for the Mac.

The nearly two dozen screenshots posted by cnBeta.com were of Outlook, the email client that’s included in Office on both Windows and OS X. cnBeta.com said that the screenshots were taken from a leaked internal test version of the application.

Some long-time Microsoft watchers, including Tom Warren of The Verge, have reported that previews of a new Office for Windows have been circulating among partners and testers. The software that cnBeta.com obtained may have come from a similar early-look program for Office on the Mac.

cnBeta.com’s screenshots showed an Outlook more closely aligned with the user interface (UI) of the client in Office 2013, the current edition for Windows, and fit OS X Yosemite’s look-and-feel with a “flatter” design.

According to the leaked build, Outlook will still rely on a “ribbon” at the top of the window, a UI feature that debuted in Office for Mac 2011 four years ago to some resistance.

Additionally, the new Outlook will integrate with OS X’s Notification Center to show the most-recently-received messages. And, not surprisingly, the suite’s applications will be tightly bound to Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud-based service for document storage and collaborative work.

Where's the new version?

An upgrade from Office for Mac 2011 is long overdue: Microsoft shipped that edition in October 2010. The long lag time has implications because 2011’s support retirement date—when the company stops providing security updates—is Jan. 12, 2016, less than 14 months away.

In the past, Microsoft’s OS X development team has talked up upcoming editions, but this cycle there was been only silence from the company. Among the unknowns are a release date, the name of the edition and pricing.

One certainty is that the next Office for Mac will be available to subscribers of Office 365, Microsoft’s rent-not-buy program. It’s also likely that Microsoft will continue to offer perpetual licenses—the traditional kind that are paid for once, with rights to use the software as long as the customer wants—because revenue from the Office 365 subscription model continues to lag far behind the more familiar one-off or volume perpetual licenses.

It’s also a good bet that Microsoft will retain the price synchronization of retail Mac licenses with Windows’ Office 2013, a move the company made last year when it introduced Office 365. Currently, a single-license Office for Mac Home & Student lists for $139.99, and Home & Business for $219.99, prices identical to the same-named version of Office 2013.

The Office 365 editions of Office for Mac 2011 are equivalent to Home & Business in that they include Outlook, but subscribers can also use Office on tablets, such as Office for iPad.

cnBeta.com also cited “Outlook 16” as the application’s formal name, implying Microsoft has skipped a version: Office for Mac 2011’s Outlook was pegged v. 14. The v. 16 may indicate that the next Office for OS X will be based on the same code as the next edition for Windows: Office 2013 is formally tagged v. 15. Rumors have also pinned the code name “Office 16” on the upcoming Windows edition.

Office 16, probably named to match Microsoft’s convention, may launch as early as the spring of 2015. If that’s the case, and Microsoft releases a companion upgrade for the Mac at the same time—or even earlier—it would be another departure for the Redmond, Wash. company, which in the past has shipped the OS X version an average of six months after the one for Windows.

On the side of an early appearance of Office for the Mac is the fact that Microsoft shipped a touch-only version for the iPad in March, but has yet to do the same for touch-centric Windows devices, including Microsoft’s own Surface.

'Microsoft Band' fitness tracker leaks out

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 02:03:00 +0000

It looks like the curtains have been raised early on Microsoft's attempt to join the wearable game.

update: goes on sale Thursday for $199

Windows Central points out that sync apps have appeared in the Mac and Androidapp stores (update: and Microsoft's), set to personalize and track data for your "Microsoft Band." Rumors had pointed to a fitness tracker more than a watch that could debut within weeks, and judging by the apps that's just what we'll get. According to the Google Play, Windows Phone Store and iTunes listings, the device itself has more in common with Nike's FuelBand than the what we've seen from Apple and Google so far. That includes tracking steps, heartbeat, calories burned and sleep quality. 9to5Mac linked a privacy agreement that goes into even deeper detail about what else it can do, namely display notifications from your mobile device or take notes and set reminders with Cortana.

Update:

Microsoft confirmed that the Band will go on sale for $199 Thursday in its online and physical stores, to US customers only, in "limited quantities." Designed by Quentin Morris (who also developed the Xbox One controller), it carries ten sensors onboard to measure things from heart rate to UV exposure to stress levels, and can last as much as 48 hours on a single charge.

Lenovo's new 13-inch 'Yoga' tablet is as big as its Windows Ultrabooks

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 01 Nov 2014 01:32:00 +0000

Lenovo seems to be coming full circle. After knocking our socks off with the original Yoga, a 13-inch Ultrabook whose screen could fold all the way back, the company followed up with a spinoff product called the Yoga Tablet.

Today, the lineup includes both Android and Windows tablets, mostly in the 8- and 10-inch range. Now, though, Lenovo is blurring the lines: Its new 13-inch Yoga Tablet 2 is the same size as its ultraportable laptops, except it has a kickstand that folds out of the back, and the optional keyboard doesn't attach to the device.

It's a weird little device: It looks like a tablet, but it's the same size as a notebook, and its screen (2,560 x 1,440) is about as sharp, too. What's even stranger is that on the inside, it actually runs more in line with a netbook, thanks to a quad-core Atom processor (though four gigs of RAM might help speed things up). All told, then, it definitely seems like a niche product: a large tablet, and an unpowered one, at that. Then again, the power-sipping chip could have at least one benefit: The battery life here is rated at up to 15 hours, far longer than most Ultrabooks we know of. It's also lighter than any 13-inch laptop, at 2.27 pounds. Still, will you want to pay a full $700 and up for it when it comes out next month? We'll leave that to you and your wallet.

Lenovo seems to be coming full circle. After knocking our socks off with the original Yoga, a 13-inch Ultrabook whose screen could fold all the way back, the company followed up with a spinoff product called the Yoga Tablet. Today, the lineup includes both Android and Windows tablets, mostly in the 8- and 10-inch range. Now, though, Lenovo is blurring the lines: Its new 13-inch Yoga Tablet 2 is the same size as its ultraportable laptops, except it has a kickstand that folds out of the back, and the optional keyboard doesn't attach to the device.

It's a weird little device: It looks like a tablet, but it's the same size as a notebook, and its screen (2,560 x 1,440) is about as sharp, too. What's even stranger is that on the inside, it actually runs more in line with a netbook, thanks to a quad-core Atom processor (though four gigs of RAM might help speed things up). All told, then, it definitely seems like a niche product: a large tablet, and an unpowered one, at that. Then again, the power-sipping chip could have at least one benefit: The battery life here is rated at up to 15 hours, far longer than most Ultrabooks we know of. It's also lighter than any 13-inch laptop, at 2.27 pounds. Still, will you want to pay a full $700 and up for it when it comes out next month? We'll leave that to you and your wallet.

Hands On With The Motorola Droid Turbo From Verizon

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 01 Nov 2014 01:32:00 +0000

The latest Droid device is now fully unveiled, and it’s truly a beast.

The most prominent and highlighted feature of the phone, its ability to charge quickly and last for up to 48 hours, is hard to test properly in a matter of hours. However, the look, feel, and general build of the device is already making an impression on me.

Motorola handed out devices at the launch event, and I walked away with a Ballistic Nylon version of the device.

But that’s not to say I’m a fan of the nylon. It seems like a material that would pick up dust and dirt and food in any one of its many pockets and crevices and forever look like a piece of trash. And matters aren’t helped by the front of the device, which looks all the more cheap and plastic-ish thanks to the nylon on the back.

I’m thinking the Metallic version, pictured in the gallery below, may actually be more practical and look a little more subtle.

Still, it feels like a sturdy phone that could withstand more than a few hard drops (though we hardly recommend testing this out for yourself.) It’s also quite thick and feels heavy, weighing in at 176 grams, with that super dense 3900mAh battery under the hood.

The pure Android experience is nice in a world of Android phones with way too many features, and the 5.2-inch display is quite nice. It also doesn’t feel too big, given the size of the display and the battery.

The phone comes with a handful of different discounts from Verizon, which you can check outhere, and starts at $199 on-contract for the 32GB model on October 30.

Droid Turbo's long battery life, new tech offset weight

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 09:23:00 +0000

There’s a lot to like in Motorola’s Droid Turbo, including its 48 hours of battery life and extremely sharp screen.

The Android smartphone has a 5.2-inch screen, but felt slightly heavier than competitive handsets during a hands-on review. Yet, it could appeal to users who need a durable handset with long battery life and the latest technologies.

The Droid Turbo will be available starting on Thursday through Verizon Wireless in the U.S. A base model with 32GB of storage will be priced at $199 with a two-year contract, and a 64GB version will sell for $249. The smartphone is exclusive to Verizon, and variants won’t be sold outside the U.S.

The handset has a slightly curvy back, much like the Moto X devices, and is easy to hold. It has on/off and volume buttons, a USB 2.0 port at the bottom to recharge the smartphone, and a headset jack at the top. The SIM card was built into the handset, and there were no external display connector ports.

No Bendgate here

The Droid Turbo won’t easily crack or break, so don’t expect any Bendgate controversy. The smartphone has a solid exterior made of kevlar, which is also used in bulletproof vests. There’s also a layer of ballistic nylon, which is used to add durability to wallets and backpacks, and patented “nanocoating” to protect the smartphone from spills. Another new material called metallized glass fiber adds shine to the device.

The smartphone can display images at a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. The benefits of this screen—which offers more depth than regular 1080p HD—were immediately noticeable, and 4K video on YouTube looked vivid and bright, with no frozen frames or jitters.

One of the more attractive features is a 21-megapixel camera, similar to the one in the recently introduced Nexus 6. The camera was easy to operate thanks to user-friendly software, and there’s also an option to shoot 4K video. Driving the speedy application and graphics performance is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon’s 805 processor, which is capable of processing 4K video for storage on the handset.

A 64GB model weighs 176 grams, and feels somewhat heavy. By comparison, the recently introduced HTC Eye, which also has a 5.2-inch screen, weighs 160 grams. But size and weight sacrifices had to be made for the thick 3,900 millamp-hour battery, which provides the smartphone with two days of battery life on general use.

A step up on the Droid Maxx

The battery life isn’t much of an improvement from the predecessor, the Droid Maxx, which was introduced last year and had a 3,500 milliamp-hour battery. But with Droid Turbo, a higher capacity battery was needed to deal with the screen, higher-resolution camera and faster processor, a Motorola representative said.

Binge watching of TV shows could drain battery quickly, but like its predecessor, Droid Turbo remains the smartphone to beat on battery life.

There are also some innovative applications on the handset like Droid Zap, which allows users to share photos and videos with just a finger tap. The Moto Assist “learning engine” can change the smartphone profile depending on user behavior, background sounds and camera images. For example, the smartphone will be able to detect if a user is in a meeting, and shut down background noise for notifications.

The smartphone comes with Android 4.4.4, code-named KitKat, but the OS will be upgraded to Android 5.0 by the end of the year. A lot of bloatware showed up in the review unit, including NFL Mobile, IMDB, Amazon and Audible apps. Bloatware can hurt battery life, and an Amazon app ran on the smartphone’s startup. It was possible to disable most of the bloatware, though it took some time and effort.

Google's new Fit app plays well with Strava, Runkeeper and others

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 01:39:00 +0000

Google is aiming to keep its users healthy—and away from Apple—with a new app that takes a broader view of fitness tracking.

Google Fit, released Tuesday, will use the sensors in Android phones to track and organize people’s walking, biking and running activity. Users can set goals and check their progress from within the app on their smartphone, as well as on the web, tablets, andAndroid Wear smartwatches.

Mobile fitness apps are a dime a dozen these days, but Google is trying to add value by letting Fit act as a hub for third-party apps like those from Strava, Withings and Runkeeper. Fit users can access data gathered by those apps within the Fit app, instead of having to switch between them. That functionality makes Google Fit the prime competitor to Apple’s HealthKit, a software platform for iOS 8 that lets third-party apps share their data with Apple’s Health app.

Google Fit is available for devices running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and above.

Whether Google Fit catches on likely depends on the number of integrations it will support with other apps, and how well it presents the combined data.

It’s unclear if other popular apps from device makers like Fitbit or Jawbone will be integrated with Fit, and Google didn’t immediately comment.

Apple, meanwhile, had some problems last month with third-party app launches for HealthKit, due to a bug that has since been fixed.

In addition to it being an app, Google Fit is a software development kit. Its APIs aim to let developers access data from other sources to make their own apps more powerful. Fit, therefore, could be a win for Google by strengthening the broader ecosystem of health apps, and then weaving them into Fit.

Fit API partners include Basis, Adidas and Motorola.

Google is becoming increasingly active in health and biosciences. The company’s working on contact lenses that measure blood glucose levels for people with diabetes, and has formed a subsidiary called Calico to combat aging-related diseases. Googleacquired Lift Labs last month, which makes a mechanical spoon for people suffering from tremors.

Google Reveals Nano Pill To Seek Out Cancerous Cells

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 01:43:00 +0000

Detecting cancer could be as easy as popping a pill in the near future. Google’s head of life sciences, Andrew Conrad, took to the stage at the Wall Street Journal Digital conference to reveal that the tech giant’s secretive Google[x] lab has been working on a wearable device that couples with nanotechnology to detect disease within the body.

“We’re passionate about switching from reactive to proactive and we’re trying to provide the tools that make that feasible,” explained Conrad. This is a third project in a series of health initiatives for Google[x]. The team has already developed a smart contact lens that detects glucose levels for diabetics and utensils that help manage hand tremors in Parkinson’s patients.

The plan is to test whether tiny particles coated “magnetized” with antibodies can catch disease in its nascent stages. The tiny particles are essentially programmed to spread throughout the body via pill and then latch on to the abnormal cells. The wearable device then “calls” the nanoparticles back to ask them what’s going on with the body and to find out if the person who swallowed the pill has cancer or other diseases.

“Think of it as sort of like a mini self-driving car,” Conrad simplified with a clear reference to Google[x]‘s vehicular project. “We can make it park where we want it to.” Conrad went on with the car theme, saying the body is more important than a car and comparing our present healthcare system as something that basically only tries to change our oil after we’ve broken down. “We wouldn’t do that with a car,” he added.

Similar to Y Combinator-backed Bikanta, the cells can also fluoresce with certain materials within the nanoparticles, helping cancer cells to show up on an MRI scan much earlier than has been possible before.

This has all sorts of implications in medicine. According to a separately released statement from Google today, “Maybe there could be a test for the enzymes given off by arterial plaques that are about to rupture and cause a heart attack or stroke. Perhaps someone could develop a diagnostic for post-surgery or post-chemo cancer patients – that’s a lot of anxious people right there (note: we’d leave this ‘product development’ work to companies we’d license the tech to; they’d develop specific diagnostics and test them for efficacy and safety in clinical trials.”

We essentially wouldn’t need to go into the doctor and give urine and blood samples anymore. According to Conrad, we’d simply swallow a pill and monitor for disease on a daily basis. We’d also be able to upload that data into the cloud and send it to our doctor. “So your doctor could say well for 312 days of this year everything looks good but these past couple of months we’re detecting disease,” Conrad said.

Privacy and security, particularly in health care is essential. Google came under fire in the last couple of years for handing over information to the U.S. government. Conrad was quick to mention that a partner, not Google would be handling individual data. “It’d be like saying GE is in control of your x-ray. We are the creators of the tech and they are the disseminators,” Conrad clarified.

The U.S. government has an active interest in this space, as well. It’s invested over $20 billion in nanotechnology research since 2013.

This project is in the exploratory phases but Conrad was hopeful that we’d be seeing this technology in the hands of every doctor within the next decade. He also mentioned that his team has explored ways of not just detecting abnormal cells but also delivering medicine at the same time. “That’s certainly been discussed,” he said, but cautioned that this was something that needed to be carefully developed so that the nanoparticles had a chance to show what was happening in the body before destroying the cells.

So far 100 Google employees with expertise in astrophysics, chemistry and electrical engineering have taken part in the nanoparticle project. “We’re trying to stave off death by preventing disease. Our foe is unnecessary death,” Conrad added.

Facebook sales, driven by mobile, shoot up nearly 60 percent

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 06:01:00 +0000

Facebook continues to reap rewards in mobile, growing its crucial ads business in large part due to ads placed on smaller screens, the company reported Tuesday.

Total sales for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 amounted to US$3.2 billion, up 59 percent from the same period last year, and beating consensus analyst expectations of $3.12 billion, as polled by Thomson Reuters.

Roughly two-thirds of sales, or 66 percent, came from ads placed on mobile devices, Facebook reported, up from just under half of all revenue coming from mobile a year ago.

Facebook’s ability to monetize its site with ads on smaller screens was in previous years a concern to investors, but the company has demonstrated considerable progress there.

Facebook also reported decent gains in growing its user base, a critical element in attracting and retaining advertisers. The number of users who logged in at least once a month clocked in at 1.35 billion, Facebook said, up 14 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of users who logged in daily—another important metric—rose by 19 percent to 864 million.

Facebook stock was at around $79.99 in after hours trading following its earnings report, down slightly from its close of $80.77, possibly signaling lingering investor concerns over Facebook’s progress toward growing its audience.

Facebook nearly doubled its net income for the third quarter, to $806 million.

The company’s adjusted earnings per share was $0.43, above analyst estimates of $0.40.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in Facebook’s announcement, called the results “strong,” showing a “good quarter.”

The Nexus 9 wasn't designed to be an iPad killer

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 02:25:00 +0000

The Nexus 9 is not designed to be an iPad killer; it is designed to inspire Google's Android partners to create an alternative.

Although you'd be forgiven for thinking different: It was announced a day before the Air 2 and 3 mini iPad, comes with a powerful 64-bit chip NVIDIA and will be priced to compete with tablets Apple. But Alberto Villarreal, director of industrial design of the Nexus 9, confirming that this is not the purpose.

"We want to promote the high-end market for Android tablets," Villarreal said. "[The Nexus 9] has many attributes and is sure to bring quality to other companies to do better."

Nexus 9 is a shining example in much the same way that last year's Nexus device, 5 and 7, shows that the manufacturer that it is possible to create cheap phones and tablets that look good and perform well. The team needed a partner with experience in creating high-end devices, so it turned to HTC.

The team needed a partner with experience in creating high-end devices, so it turned to HTC.
"We see the One and really liked their design is very simple, focusing on usability and eliminate things that do not need to be there," Villarreal said.

HTC Nexus 9 production processing and working closely with Google on the design and material of it, but it looks unlike anything the Taiwan-based manufacturing has been done before. BoomSound well hidden stereo speakers on the front is characterized by HTC, but otherwise the tablet looks like a blown up version of the Nexus 5: The straight sides, matte soft-grip (Polycarbonate) back and even camera position provides a very striking similarity. (Villarreal helped design the Nexus 5 is fine.) However, there are 9 more on a higher level than last year thanks to smartphones using aluminum.

If the design team entertaining the idea of a device made of metal, the thought does not stick. It's like a layered approach: The parties provide hard aluminum and protection, in addition to its premium appearance, while polycarbonate is meant to provide a better grip and more color options.

And while the Nexus 9 of three colors - black, white and sand - not exactly exciting or eye-catching, more consideration goes into choosing the right color.

"We're moving away from technology-driven black and silver, which is very common in the industry, and trying to bring more of a fashion look portfolio," Villarreal said.

How would you change the 13-inch, mid-2013 MacBook Air?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 04:20:00 +0000

Meet the new boss, broadly the same as the old boss. Except this variation of Apple'sthin-and-light mobile PC was packing Haswell, Intel's power-sipping wonder chip, capable of giving the 2013 MBA its 12-plus-hour battery life and nippy speed.

When we sat this down in front of Tim Stevens' hands, his only grip was that the device was lacking a retina display, although we're probably still a year or two away from that taking place. Still, we imagine plenty of you out there picked up one of these devices, so why not hop on the forum and tell us if you'd have taken a MacBook Air with a four-hour battery life in exchange for some pixel-dense goodness.

Xiaomi is moving some of its users' data out of China

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 06:23:00 +0000

Xiaomi's a force to be reckoned with in China -- its new phones routinely sell out online in seconds -- but its influence is steadily growing outside its native home.

Xiaomi is moving some of its users' data out of China

That's why the company's infrastructure has been quietly shifting these past few months, and VP/former Googler Hugo Barra pulled back the curtain on what Xiaomi's been up to. Long story short: it's moving user data around the world, not only to make sure its services work better, but also to better protect its users' information.

Some of the changes Xiaomi enacted are purely prosaic: it's moving its e-commerce platform to Amazon data centers in California and Singapore so the site runs faster. Great! Of course, there's something more crucial to Xiaomi's future than making sure its website loads quickly. We're talking about privacy here, and Xiaomi doesn't exactly have a spotless track record when it comes safeguarding user info.

Finnish security firm F-Secure learned earlier this year that some Xiaomi phones relayed sensitive information like phone numbers and device identifiers back to company servers in China (in plain text, no less). Xiaomi quickly addressed the issue, but it was still enough to spook some curious players around the world. Take India, for instance - Xiaomi pulled off a very successful (if quiet) launch there, selling 40,000 phones in a hair over four seconds in early September. Earlier this week, though, The New Indian Express reported that the Indian Air Force has been cracking down on the use of Xiaomi phones because of their habit of relaying information back to China. Similar concerns caused the Taiwanese government to conduct its own investigation on Xiaomi phones, though officials haven't yet published their results.

Xiaomi's great data shift might be the right answer at the right time. Barra noted that international users' data would no longer live in Beijing -- instead, it'll be stored on Amazon servers in Oregon and Singapore, far away from the Chinese government's curious eyes. If Xiaomi's really going to grow into the global giant it clearly wants to be, it has to do pull of the greatest feat of them all: it has to make the world's potential customers trust it. The move won't be done until later this year, but still -- it's a very clear step in the right direction.

Xbox Music ditches free desktop streaming on December 1st

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 01:47:00 +0000

If you're hooked on Xbox Music's free desktop-based listening, you're going to have make some backup plans very shortly.

Xbox Music ditches free desktop streaming on December 1st

Microsoft has announced that it's dropping the no-cost web and Windows streaming option as of December 1st; after that, you'll have to pay for a Music Pass if you want all-you-can-eat tunes beyond the 30-day trial period.

The company claims that it's refocusing Xbox Music to make it the "ultimate music purchase and subscription service," although it's not elaborating on what that entails. Suffice it to say that Microsoft has a lot of competition in the free music space. Its main rival, Spotify, has over 30 million free users worldwide on a wider range of platforms -- it wouldn't be easy for Microsoft to challenge that lead using the free tier you know today.

Some Bank of America customers double-charged with Apple Pay

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 25 Oct 2014 01:48:00 +0000

Some Bank of America customers have been double-charged for purchases made with Apple Pay, the payment system Apple launched on Monday.

Some Bank of America customers double-charged with Apple Pay

Roughly 1,000 transactions made with Apple Pay were logged twice in customer accounts, said Tara Burke, a spokeswoman with Bank of America, which is one of the largest U.S. banks and was an Apple Pay launch partner.

“We apologize for the inconvenience and are correcting the problem,” said Burke.

The duplicate transactions should be removed by the end of Wednesday.

Apple Pay utilizes a secure chip inside Apple’s new iPhone 6 that enables the phone to emulate an NFC (near field communications) payment card. When the Apple Pay app is loaded with a customer’s credit or debit card, payments can be made at NFC terminals by bringing the phone close to the terminal.

The system is being positioned as easier and more secure than current payment cards because the card number is not passed to the retailer’s terminal. Instead, a substitute number called a token is offered to the merchant, which sends it on to the card issuer for approval.

The token can only be used once, so if it’s stolen it should prove useless to cyberattackers. It’s tied to the actual card number deeper in the financial services network, further away from the retailer terminals that have been the target of so much hacking recently.

Apple Pay is compatible with existing NFC payment terminals, which can be found in around 200,000 shops and taxis across the U.S.

Microsoft Android Wear app lets you search Bing by twisting your wrist

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 09:41:00 +0000

Slightly irked that you have to say "OK Google" whenever you want to use voice search on your Android Wear smartwatch? Microsoft, of all companies, is coming to your rescue.

Microsoft Android Wear app lets you search Bing by twisting your wrist

The developer is leading a trio of experimental Android releases with Torque, an app that lets you start a Bing search just by twisting your wrist; you only have to speak when you're asking your question. You'll get optimized output for certain kinds of search results, including maps, stocks and weather.

The other apps are meant solely for your phone, but they could be equally handy. Next Lock Screen puts important at the top level of your phone, including missed calls and frequently used apps; you can also change the lock screen's background depending on your location. Journeys & Notes, meanwhile, lets you write notes to share with anyone else who visits nearby, such as tips about what to eat. All three of Microsoft's latest Android apps are free, so it probably won't hurt to give them a try.

It costs $50 to plug an Xbox One Kinect into your PC

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 07:09:00 +0000

What's stopping you from creating the first killer Kinect 2.0 hack? Well, now that Microsoft's released the do-all sensor's SDK to the public for free you don't have many more excuses.

It costs $50 to plug an Xbox One Kinect into your PC

The software development kit is available without any fees and what's more, you can now put any finished apps up for sale on the Windows Store as well. Just like that! To help developers along even further, Redmond is releasing an adapter that makes the Xbox One Kinect play nicely with a Windows 8 PC. Meaning, they won't have to use a hack to create a hack (or buy a redundant Windows Kinect). The $50 USB 3.0 dongle not only brings price parity between the two previously separate cameras, but it'sanother instance of Microsoft reversing a previous hardline policy to better suit its customers too. Now, get out there and get cracking -- the hardware giant already has a head start on you.

Update: Developer Ubi Interactive, known for large-screen gesture control installations, has posted a trio of brief, new videos demoing some fresh uses for the Kinect 2.0. We've embedded them below.

Google to build Play-like hardware store for Project Ara

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 01:45:00 +0000

Drawing inspiration from its Play Store, Google will create a hardware store in which users can buy and sell Lego-like hardware modules for the customizable Project Ara smartphone.

Google to build Play-like hardware store for Project Ara

Project Ara is Google’s upcoming build-your-own smartphone that allows users to mix and match features. The $50 configurable smartphone will come with a basic frame, and users can add or remove features by simply snapping on or taking off modular parts.

For example, users will be able to individually swap out screens, cameras, antennas and CPUs, which could be a cheaper way to replace parts than buying new smartphones. Google is pursuing biometric modules, and independent hardware makers have mulled creating temperature, input, gaming, antenna and medical sensors. Modules can be designed with Google’s Module Developers Kit (MDK), which contains reference designs, specifications and guidelines.

“Anybody can create a module per the specifications of the developer’s kit and put it in the Ara module marketplace, which is analogous to the Google Play Store, and sell directly to consumers,” said Paul Eremenko, head of Project Ara at Google’s ATAP (Advanced Technology and Projects) division, during a question and answer session at Purdue University earlier this month.

Rankings and ratings

Buyers will be able to see the most popular modules based on reviews and user ratings, much like with apps in the Google Play store, Eremenko said.

A market pilot for Project Ara will begin in 2015, during which Google will try to understand usage and iron out kinks. Google has developed three Project Ara smartphone prototypes with different screen sizes, and Eremenko indicated it could be a while until final products ship worldwide.

“There’s a lot more that we need to do in terms of retiring technical risks on the project. We have probably two more ...prototypes to make. And during the market pilot we have a lot to learn about how people interact with this device,” Eremenko said.

Modular phones are not a new concept. Israeli company Modu in 2010 announced Brewphone, to which keyboard, speaker and camera modules could be attached. ZTE isdeveloping a customizable smartphone called Eco-Mobius, which has not yet been released.

The viability of Project Ara has been heavily debated, but Eremenko believed consumers will appreciate its flexibility.

“If we can span price points that range from a feature phone crossover price point all the way to an aspirational, very high-end device that may be able to do...portable medical diagnostics, that could potentially help us on the way of delivering the mobile Internet to the next five billion people who are not smartphone enabled,” Eremenko said.

Success defined by flexibility

The success of Project Ara could ultimately lie on its functionality, which will be defined by the swappable modules. Eremenko wants to make module development easy, and his team is working on new design tools to make hardware design as simple as writing mobile apps.

“Today it takes maybe 12, 18, 24 months to make a new smartphone and bring it to market and we’re hoping to get that down to a couple of months,” Eremenko said.

Google is encouraging developers to come up new module ideas, and is also working on some of its own. The company is chasing the idea of “adaptive commerce experiences” in which health sensors can track monitor human biometric signals.

“That includes galvanic skin response, sweat levels, your pupil dilation, gaze direction, and a variety of things that we can pick up non-invasively about you as you’re interacting with the e-commerce system. If you’re stressed or impatient or bored with the experience, we could present a differently curated experience,” Eremenko said.

During the talk, Eremenko also floated the idea of secure modules with private user information, which can be swapped depending on who’s using the smartphone.

Google and Linaro are developing a custom version of Android for Project Ara. Work is underway around plug-and-play recognition so modules are identified immediately without restarting the smartphone. Much like USB attachments, modules will be recognized based on different driver “classes,” such as those for storage, input, networking, imaging and others. Some modules not recognized, like high-end cameras, will be placed in isolated zones so as not to compromise the smartphone.

The modules are electropermanent magnets that can turn on and off but use no power in either state. Instead of connectors, the modules use inductive coupling for data transfers.

To make module development cheaper, Google ATAP is also partnering with companies like Flextronics and Quanta so developers can inexpensively turn designs into actual hardware.

Android 5.0 Lollipop to hit the wild on November 3

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 05:46:00 +0000

Google is telling developers to step on it if they want their apps ready for a November 3 release of Android Lollipop.

Android 5.0 Lollipop to hit the wild on November 3

It’s the first specific date we’ve heard, which means the newest flavor of Android will start hitting the street in less than two weeks. The Nexus 9 preorders start shipping on that same date as well. Though as is often the case with preorders, they may show up on some people’s doorsteps early.

With Lollipop so close, Google is gently nagging programmers in the Google Play Developer Console (pictured) to grab the latest release of Android and get cracking. They can already upload apps and schedule them for release when Lollipop goes live.

GOOGLE PLAY DEVELOPER CONSOLE

This isn’t a guarantee that your device will get Lollipop on November 3, but at least we know when the rollout will start. Expect Nexus devices to get it first, with others manufacturers planning to follow suit. Manufacturers like HTC have promised some phones (like the One M8 and M7) will get an update within 90 days of the official release—this would be the date to start the clock. Software updates often have to be tested by carriers before they're released, too.

Why this matters: It’s one thing to get Android 5.0 Lollipop out the door, it’s quite another to get the rest of the ecosystem ready. Lollipop is a significant rewrite of how Android looks and performs, so it will be rather funky if third-party apps look like they don’t belong.

Google is nudging developers to update their apps so the transition to Lollipop is a smooth one, which won’t happen if all of a sudden Android owners can't get their favorite apps to work properly.

Will.i.am's Puls wristband has its own 3G, support from AT&T

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 06:34:00 +0000

Will.i.am has just revealed the Puls at Dreamforce 2014, a smartwatch that doesn't need to be tethered to a phone to send texts, emails or make and take phone calls.

Will.i.am's Puls wristband has its own 3G, support from AT&T

In fact, Will kept saying it's not a watch, because smartwatches don't typically come with SIM cards, which the Puls does have (it presumably shares your phone number), along with speakers and a touchscreen display that curves along with its body, making the device look more like a cuff than a traditional watch. The Puls (a product out his wearable tech company, i.am+) has 16GB of storage onboard, 1GB of RAM, GPS, a battery that goes around the bracelet, pedometer and accelerometer, all powered by an Android-based platform and a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. It connects to the internet not only via WiFi, but also via 3G, which means it has carrier partners: the Puls works with AT&T in the US and O2 in the UK.

As we've mentioned in the past, the watch comes with a music streaming service baked into it. It also has a voice assistant (another Siri rival, if you will) that can remind you to call people or of an event, wake you up, among other tasks similar programs can do, as well as a fitness app that monitors your workouts. Other than the watch itself, Will.i.am and his team have also designed accessories to go it: a jacket with battery packs that can charge the Puls so long as it touches the sleeve (each jacket can provide two-and-a-half days of power), and a backpack with speakers that also weighs you and tells you how many steps you've taken in a day. The musician/entrepreneur didn't mention how much the Puls and its accessories will cost, but the wristband itself will be available this holiday season in select AT&T stores.

Verizon's Edge program changes make you wait longer to upgrade

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 02:37:00 +0000

Eyeing an upgrade to the Droid Turbo? An iPhone 6? Maybe the One M8 for Windows? If you're on Verizon's Edge payment program, you're going to have to be more patient than usual -- or at least, open your wallet a little wider.

The carrier has confirmed a Droid-Life leak revealing that Big Red is modifying Edge in a way that makes it harder to upgrade quickly. As of October 16th, payments for new devices will normally be distributed over two years, rather than 20 months; if you can't wait that long to get new gear, you'll have to pay off 75 percent of the hardware price rather than 60 percent. In practice, that means that you'll either be waiting at least 18 months to trade up (instead of 12) or else paying more to accelerate the upgrade process.

It's not strictly a doom-and-gloom scenario, thankfully. More payments should mean lower monthly rates, and Verizon is increasing the per-line discount for lower-cost plans (those with 8GB of data or less) from $10 to $15. You'll have to wait longer if you dutifully obey the payment schedule, then, but you aren't necessarily paying more in the long run. The big problem is simply that this now sounds more like a conventional contract rather than the fast track you were probably expecting -- it's just that the math has changed.

Surface Hub is a stylus configuration app that's more trouble than it's worth

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 02:22:00 +0000

Rarely does Microsoft release an app that isn’t worth your time. For now, however, Surface Hub probably falls into that category.

Surface Hub is a stylus configuration app that's more trouble than it's worth

Released over the weekend, Surface Hub is apparently built on a recent Surface Pro 3 update that paved the way for additional pen sensitivity. The app is extremely basic: Users can adjust the sensitivity curve of the pen and change the behavior of the launch button at the top of the pen. That’s it.

Surface Hub is just an odd app, in general. The launch screen trumpets “GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR SURFACE,” but then you have to find the two menu items that hang off the right edge of that screen, requiring you to slide right.

MICROSOFT

Surface Huib offers the basics and not much more.

There, you can adjust the sensitivity curve or the launch button. I’m no artist, but the differences in the curve change the thickness of the Surface Pro 3’s pen minimally, at best.

A small improvement is the option to change the app that launches when you click the button on top of the pen—either the modern OneNote app, or the desktop version. There’s still no way to change what the buttons on the side of the stylus do, however.

Both functions worked as expected. But unfortunately, after launching the app, my input devices began acting up. Although I was able to launch OneNote (or the desktop version of OneNote) as expected, I switched back to my Web browser. When I tried to type in a new Web address, however, the PC seemed to think I was trying to search for a particular file and opened up the search Charm instead. Concerned that I might have inadvertently tapped a keyboard shortcut or hotkey, I rebooted.

MARK HACHMAN

So far, you can’t change the functionality of the two buttons modway down the Surface Pro 3 stylus.

At that point, however, my mouse refused to work, as did the touchpad. Since I had set my Windows 8.1 desktop to open on my (non-touch-enabled) standalone monitor, I had to tap the Windows key + X to allow me to enter the desktop via the menu. At that point, the mouse began working again. User error may have played a role, but it was also annoying for an app to begin behaving unexpectedly, when it already did so very little.

Many users have already begun complaining that the app itself refuses to recognize their stylii, so it appears there are other problems I didn’t experience. In any event, you might want to check back after Surface Hub gets updated.

Why this matters: The bottom line is that it seems Surface Hub is more trouble than it’s worth at the moment. But if Microsoft updates it to allow you to configure its buttons and sensitivity—say, like a mouse—then it may prove to be a useful utility. So why didn’t Microsoft release it when all these capabilities were included?

Samsung's futuristic Wi-Fi tech is five times faster than today's wireless networks

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 14:45:00 +0000

Those face-meltingly fast new 802.11ac routers might not be king of the wireless networking world for long. On Sunday, Samsung announced it’s developing new 802.11ad Wi-Fi technology that can turbocharge network speeds fivefold, from today’s 866Mbps per-device maximum to a blistering 4.6Gbps. At that rate, Samsung says, a 1GB movie file can transfer from one device to another in under 3 seconds.

The secret sauce: Ditching the crowded 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless channels used by today’s routers and jumping to the 60GHz frequency band.

Even though you might not have heard of them, neither the futuristic 802.11ad standardnor the idea of using the 60GHz frequency for ultra-fast Wi-Fi are new. But prior implementations have run into a brick wall, both literally and figuratively: 60GHz signals can’t easily penetrate walls. That’s obviously a big problem for real-world usage. Most of the 60GHz-capable "WiGig" accessories you can find today are designed to operate at very, very short ranges as a result.

But Kim Chang Yong, head of Samsung’s DMC R&D Center, says the company has “successfully overcome the barriers to the commercialization of 60GHz millimeter-wave band Wi-Fi technology.”

Samsung’s press release says it overcame those physical and metaphorical barriers with "high-performance modem technologies and by developing wide-coverage beam-forming antenna." The WirelessHD and WiGig standards groups have also been trying to improve 60GHz signal performance using beam-forming, a Wi-Fi technology that detects where client devices (like PCs and tablets) are physically located and then sends a focused signal directly at those devices, rather than mindlessly broadcasting a Wi-Fi signal in all directions as most routers do. (Beam-forming is already becoming a common feature in high-end 802.11ac routers.)

Don’t start saving your pennies for this particular bit of next-gen networking kit just quite yet, however. While Samsung’s press release states that “commercialization is expected as early as next year,” that’s only talking about industry-wide usage of the 60GHz frequency itself—not necessarily the release of Samsung products packing the company’s new technology. A Samsung spokesperson provided the following statement to John Ribeiro of the IDG News Service:

"As 60GHz is an unlicensed band spectrum globally, along with 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrum, industry-level of commercialization is expected as early as next year, but there's nothing we could confirm at this point on when Samsung products supporting 60GHz Wi-Fi will be available in the market."

It seems 802.11ac routers will have to do for now. Fortunately, there are a slew of compelling options available.

The story behind the story: The idea of making wireless networks as fast or faster than wired connections holds obvious appeal—the less time you spend waiting for files to transfer, the more stuff you can get done. But while Wi-Fi improvements like Samsung’s new technology should (eventually) turbocharge sharing files, streaming locally stored movies, or playing games across your home network, don’t forget that a fast router won’t magically make your actual Internet connection any faster. Activities like browsing the web or zoning out on the couch and watching Netflix are usually limited by your Internet speed, not your router.