Tag: software

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See What Your Phone is REALLY Capable of with Google’s Android Experiments

ink space android experimentGoogle is celebrating some of the more experimental apps found in the Android ecosystem with their new Android Experiments site. Taking some of these projects, making them open source, and encouraging developers to continue pushing the boundaries on smartphone apps and services.

None of these seem to be fully featured programs, but pieces of design which could lead to some interesting apps. I’m already really impressed with InkSpace, which bends drawings around your phone’s orientation and then creates a gif based on your art. Check out Google’s teaser video below.

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The Windows 10 Review – Should You Upgrade Your PC?

It’s time to review Windows 10! Microsoft’s newest OS had a very public run in its Preview BETA form, but now the official release is here! Let’s kick the tires and take it for a spin!

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Waze Unveils Ride Sharing Service “RideWith” in Limited BETA

Fullscreen capture 762015 10536 PMServices like Lyft and Uber have been disrupting the market for traditional taxi and town car service in a number of cities, thanks to lower prices and timely notifications through apps.

Today Waze took the wraps off of their solution for ride sharing named “RideWith”.  Focused on reducing business commuter traffic, RideWith seeks to pair up drivers and riders who are already traveling in the same direction at the same times. It’s a 21st century version of the bulletin board a company might use for coordinating an employee carpool.

This is not a spur of the moment service, as Waze recommends passengers book a trip at least a day in advance, and the app will help calculate and pay drivers for fuel costs per ride. As Google now owns Waze, it’s no surprise that the service is launching first on Android, with iOS “coming soon”.

If you were hoping to try this out, you might have a bit of a wait. RideWith is currently in very limited BETA, only servicing Israel at the time this article was posted. You can pull up more info and an FAQ by heading to the RideWith website.

Is this the solution for alleviating traffic congestion during rush hour? Leave a comment below.

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Youtube Rolling Out 60 FPS Playback on Android & iOS Apps

Smoother streaming video is coming to phones and tablets near you!

We’ve had 60 frame per second video on the desktop version of Youtube for some time now, and this improvement is finally making its way to mobile devices through the Youtube app. High frame rate video looks almost unnaturally smooth and fluid, and we’ve been producing most of our reviews on this channel in 60FPS for the last year. It’s a great way to show off gadgets.

We can expect that this move is also coming in advance of Youtube Gaming, where having a 60fps stream is very beneficial for showing off in game footage.

Now while watching on a mobile device, hit your menu, go to your quality settings, and you should see options for 720p60 and 1080p60. Hit one of those and feed your eyeballs some prettier video. If you’re not sure which video to check out first, might we recommend our new review of the Galaxy S6 Active?

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Skype For Web BETA Available For All

skype for web betaIt’s been one of my most long lived frustrations with Skype. Sure I have apps that run on phones, tablets, and PC’s, but sometimes I just want to check a message from a browser. It never made much sense to me that when I would get an email alerting me to a voicemail, I couldn’t just check that voicemail from the browser I just got the email in.

Better late than never, Skype is now delivering their Skype for Web BETA plugin for everyone. Installing a little piece of software in Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Safari will now give you a pretty complete Skype experience.

In early use it’s been a nice way to balance notifications and alerts without having to keep the Skype client running constantly in the background on my PC. We still don’t quite have the dream of just being able to log into Skype on the web from any browser to check our messages like Google Voice, but this is a nice step in the right direction.

You can catch the full Skype press release below.

Continue reading “Skype For Web BETA Available For All”

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Waze Delivers Arnold Schwarzenegger Celebrity Turn by Turn Voice

“Make a U-turn then GET TO ZE CHOPPA!!! Yeaaarrggghh!!!“

Teasing their new celebrity voice, the Waze team tweeted this pic out today.

I honestly haven’t been this excited for a turn by turn voice since I first got the John Cleese upgrade for Tomtom back in the day.  We’re really curious to see how “funny” the directions might be, we’ll find out tomorrow, but until then, the jokes just write themselves…

“Who is your daddy, and what does he drive?”

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Microsoft Security Software Will Now Remove ASK Toolbar and Search Hijacking

It’s kinda sad how far ASK has fallen. From the cute Ask Jeeves to now being considered malware by Microsoft.

And with good reason. The Ask toolbar is an insidious little piece of software which hijacks your search options and adds an ugly bar to your browser.  I once reinstalled an OS just to completely rid a system of browser add ons, of which Ask was one.

java-ask-toolbar-installationIt’s exceedingly rare to find knowledgeable computer users who intentionally use it. That was likely Ask’s problem. Not enough people using their search engine, so they partnered with other companies to try and sneak their software onto your computer. The frustration of clicking through a program installation, and having to pay close attention to make sure no crapware is included.

Thankfully Microsoft Security Software will now scan for and remove search hijacks like these. It’s a long overdue move, but a welcome one. Microsoft’s free security software is actually quite good, and this makes it a little better at helping users with a very common security concern.

(via Microsoft Protection Center)

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Apple Charging Developers $100 a Year to Make Free Plugins for Safari Browser

apple-safari-logoWant to develop Safari browser apps or plugins? It’s going to cost you.

As Apple rolls Safari development into their overall dev program, folks working on the Apple browser will have to pay the same fees app developers pay, namely $100 a year.

Reddit user HonestBleeps, who produces the free Reddit Enhancement Suite is detailing his experiences regarding the transition:

So it used to be free to be a part of the Safari developer program. That’s being folded into Apple’s dev program now, and I’m required to pay $100 to join if I want to continue publishing Reddit Enhancement Suite – which is free.

$100 would be several months worth of donations, on many/most months, and only to support less than 1% of RES users.

We’ll have to wait for these Apple developer programs to officially merge to see if this will throw cold water on Safari development, force formally free services to start charging, or if Apple will continue to allow developers to publish Safari plugins for free.

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