Tag: updates

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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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Youtube Teases Ten New Tools for Creators Coming Soon

youtube creator featuresYoutube is detailing some new features and optimizations coming to their video streaming service, focused on improving the experience for creators. Google has been aggressively experimenting with the platform adding 360 degree video, improving comment ranking, and recently announcing a game streaming app to compete with Twitch.

Even for folks who only watch Youtube videos, detailing these changes and improvements now will give people a glimpse on how they’ll be able to keep up with their favorite producers.

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Microsoft: Windows 10 Available Starting July 29th

Here it comes folks!

Microsoft has officially announced that Windows 10 will be available for consumers starting July 29th. Cortana, a new browser called “Edge”, Continuum, new photo and Office apps will all be available for free for people on Windows 7 and Windows 8 PC’s.

We can also expect to see new hardware running Windows 10, and many have their fingers crossed for new Windows Phones to be launched at the same time.

You can read Microsoft’s full press release below.

Continue reading “Microsoft: Windows 10 Available Starting July 29th”

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Android Wear 5.1 on the Asus ZenWatch – New Features and Review!

Google put a fresh coat of polish on Android Wear and built in a few new features to play with! Let’s take a look at Android’s newest smartwatch OS!

Shop the ZenWatch on Amazon.

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6Tag 5.0 Brings Video Uploading to Instagram for Windows Phone

wp_ss_20150522_0001Instagram continues to ignore some of the best smartphone cameras on the market by letting their BETA app on Windows Phone continue to rot. With no updates for well over a year, we can hope they’re working on a Windows 10 app (at least porting over their iOS app), but in the meantime we have Windows Phone developer extraordinaire Rudy Huyn.

His third party Instagram client for Windows Phones 6Tag has long been the gold standard for sharing higher quality pics on Microsoft’s OS. Now his latest update brings video uploading to the table, alongside a few new photo filters.

6Tag has always been able to shoot video, but it was unable to upload previously shot video. A new video editing menu in 6Tag replicates that functionality from Instagram’s app on iOS and Android.

This feature is brand spanking new, and Rudy has already announced a minor bug fix has been submitted to Microsoft, but in the meantime, we’ve had no complaints using it on a Lumia Icon.

6Tag in the Windows Phone App Store

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Adobe Lightroom Mobile – RAW Photo Editing Comes to Android

adobe lightroom mobile android raw photo editingAdobe has released a killer update for their Lightroom Mobile app for Android.

Not only does the app bring compatibility for tablets and MicroSD card storage, for folks looking to produce the highest quality content possible while on the go, you can now edit RAW photos.

It’s like the difference between editing the raw audio off of a CD or working from a compressed MP3. Most people use JPG files, which are squished for easier sharing. RAW photos retain all of the detail and information from the camera sensor, before software turns them into the visual equivalent of MP3’s.

This update will require the new Google Camera API which allows for RAW capture. This API was released with Lollipop, but of course not all manufacturers are using it. You can test your phone with this Manual Camera Compatibility app to see if RAW capture will work. The Galaxy S6 for example supports manual photo features, but does not support saving RAW images.

This is an excellent step for mobile content creation on the Adobe platform. You can grab Lightroom Mobile on Google Play.

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Build 2015: Android and iOS Apps Coming to Windows 10 Phones

***Update for tech clarification at the end***

The Windows Phone platform has often been criticized for a lack of apps. Windows 10 will bring new tools for developers to create universal apps that run on Phones, Tablets, Laptops, Hybrids, Desktops, and the XBox.

Yet it can still be difficult courting developers to stray from the iOS and Android duopoly. There have been rumors swirling that Microsoft would be allowing ported Android apps to run on Windows 10, and at the Build Developer conference Microsoft took it one step further.

windows 10 microsoft build developer conference apps software ios android

New tools will be provided to easily transition Java and C++ apps from Android, and developers will also be able to transition Objective C apps from iOS to Windows Phone.

Developers typically focus on iOS first to bring new services to market thanks to the consistency of Apple’s ecosystem. Conceivably, those same developers can invest far fewer resources to bring that service to EVERY device running Windows 10 than moving that same app to Android.

microsoft king candy crush apps software gamesKing.com was given as an example of one of the first companies to utilize these new tools, porting Candy Crush from iOS to Windows Phone in a matter of hours.

There’s now even less of a barrier for developers to bring services to the Windows ecosystem, especially as Microsoft expects Windows 10 to be on over one billion devices within the first year of release, handily outpacing the number of gadgets running iOS 8 or Android 5.0.

***Update***

For those wondering, Microsoft will be adding a subsystem to Windows 10 that can run Android Open Source Project software. The APK’s which install Android apps will be installed directly, in a secure partition, though if apps call certain API’s or depend on services Google wont allow on Windows, then obviously the app wont work. Microsoft will be providing tools to easily port certain actions, say an App calls for Google Now, it can be pointed over to look for Cortana instead.

For iOS apps, Microsoft is providing software for devs to completely recompile apps written in Objective C. iPhone apps will not be running in Windows Phone in the same way Android apps will run in a little emulation pocket.

While we’ll have to wait for Windows 10 on more devices to see the fruits of Android APK support, Microsoft has already released the iOS re-compiler for free, which hopefully means we’ll start seeing iOS services show up in the Windows store soon.

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Review: KCRW’s MUCH Improved Android App – Support Publicly Funded Radio!

It’s a service I use almost every day, and now their Android app is much easier to use. KCRW is a listener supported radio station in LA, which produces fantastic news and music shows with a global focus. Let’s take a look at their new app for streaming live audio and organizing their podcasts!

KCRW App (on Google Play)

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