At its Nexus launch event in late September, Google announced that it would be bringing ‘Shared Albums’ feature to Google Photos
later this year. True to its words and just before the holiday season,
the company has started rolling out the feature to iOS, Android and web
version of Google Photos.
The steps are pretty simple. You create a shared album, send the link
to your friends and loved ones, they join the album and then they can
start adding their own photos to it. Once new photos are added in an
album, other people who have joined that album will automatically
receive a notification about it.
Photos added by someone else in a shared album can also be added to your own Google Photos library.
Shared albums start rolling out on Android, iOS and the web for all Google Photos users starting from today.
The iPad is a powerful tool, especially when it comes to education,
and a new proposal in the United Kingdom suggests prisoners should be
taking advantage of the mobile devices.
According to a report published by The Telegraph,
an adviser to the Ministry of Justice in the United Kingdom has made it
clear that iPads should be a tool used in the prison system to help
those detained with literacy and numeracy. On top of that, the prisoners
should be able to keep in touch with their families from within their
cells, utilizing things like FaceTime or Skype to “video chat their
families.”
According to the former head of the prison service,
having iPads in cells could make the time that prisoners spend within
them more constructive:
“Prisoners spend a lot of time in cells, and we need to
make that time more constructive. They should be meeting a tutor once a
week, but doing work on literacy and numeracy on their own. We could
look at giving prisoners iPads to work on in their cells.”
At the same time, Dame Sally Coates, a former headteacher in the
area, is also conducting a review of education within the UK prison
system, and is also considering the proposal. Coates says that if a
prisoner doesn’t have the necessary skills to get a job after a stint in
prison, then they are more likely to reoffend.
At the time of publication, Justice Minister Michael Gove is looking over the proposals, but a decision has not been made yet.
As Apple’s A-branded processors continue to get attention as
high-powered chipsets in mobile products, another chip could be getting
some of the limelight soon.
According to a new rumor, Apple has
reportedly been working on its own in-house graphics chip for quite some
time. Many years, in fact, and is still hard at work on developing its
own GPU for its mobile devices. The report indicates that Apple has
already been working on the GPU for several years now, but there’s no
clear indication when, or even if, a finalized product ready for
installation in iPhones and iPads will see the light of day anytime
soon.
As it stands now, Apple utilizes a variety of PowerVR
graphics chips that are designed by Imagination Technologies. If Apple
can get its own in-house GPU off the ground and in its devices, it would
mean Apple would not have to rely on IT from that point forward.
The report indicates that this new GPU will probably not be ready by the unveiling of the iPhone 7 in 2016.
GoPro is one of the go-to brands when it comes to recording just
about anything, especially when it comes to outdoor activities, like
skateboarding. And now it’s getting even better.
Recently, GoPro updated its mobile app
to support the Apple Watch, and bring with it some interesting use case
features to the wearable, making it even easier to get that perfect shot
without having to rely on your iPhone. GoPro officially showed off the
new features in a video starring Mikey Taylor, a pro skateboarder, which
you can watch below.
With the Apple Watch app, you’ll be able to Start/Stop
recording, add “HiLighted” moments to your recorded clips, and even
review clips. Users will also be able to preview an active camera angle,
making it possible to double check an upcoming recording session’s
angle before it kicks off right from your wrist.
The iOS app has also been updated to make it easier to pull still
images from a recording, and even better filtering options as well.
Love it or hate it, there is no way you can ignore Apple’s Smart Battery case for the iPhone 6s.
The case has led to Apple and Jony Ive receiving a lot of flak for
releasing a product that does not live up to Apple’s design standard.
While from the outside, the Smart Battery case does not look like a product made by Apple, how does it look from inside? iFixit tore it down to find out.
Just like the Smart Keyboard and the Apple Pencil,
tearing down the Smart Battery case is an irreversible destructible
process. Prying open the soft microfibre finish in the inside revealed
the aluminium sheet on which the microfibre cloth sticks to. The sheet
has been heavily scratched to improve the adhesive bond. There is also a
mesh interfacing to make sure that there are no fatigue damage on the
silicone hinge.
Removing the aluminium sheet gives one access to the 1877mAh battery
and its logic board. The battery has been strongly glued in its place to
improve the rigidity of the case. The logic board connected to the
battery is very small and only contains a few ICs related to charging
and load switching.
In the end, the iFixit team gave the Smart Battery case for
the iPhone 6s a repairability score of 2 out of 10. It notes that while
replacing the battery is possible, it will likely destroy the inner
microfibre lining.
After giving unlimited LTE data for three months to its customers, offering $200 credit to Sprint users for switching over to T-Mobile and offering a $200 discount to AT&T
customers on buying the 128GB iPhone 6s, the ‘Un-carrier’ “Unwrapped”
its fourth holiday promotion aimed at getting Verizon customers to
switch over to it.
Unlike its previous offerings though, the fourth holiday gift from
T-Mobile is not that impressive. The un-carrier is only offering one
year of free Hulu Switch to Verizon customers who switch over to its
Simple Choice postpaid plan between December 11-17.
“Verizon customers put up with a lot of
sneaky tricks from Big Red these days. Overpriced data, shocking overage
penalties and no early upgrade option – just to name a few,” said John
Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. “So while Verizon spends billions
of dollars on TV ads screaming that ‘better matters,’ we are going to
show their customers why the Un-carrier is better with a real gift,
half-off the best accessories and a full year of Hulu that comes with
unlimited LTE streaming with Binge On at T-Mobile! It’s a gift that
will keep giving all year long!”
Once a Verizon customer switches over to T-Mobile, the
un-carrier will send them a $100 Hulu gift code, which can then be
redeemed for a year of of Hulu’s Limited Commercials subscription.
Thanks to BingeOn, T-Mobile subscribers can stream TV shows and
movies from Hulu without worrying about crossing their data limit.
Additionally, T-Mobile is also offering interested Verizon customers
up to a 50 percent discount at its in-store accessories when financed
through them. This could translate into as much as $125 discount on
accessories like the UE Boom, Fitbit trackers, and more.
T-Mobile’s recent offers have been very tempting compared to what
other carriers like Verizon, Sprint and AT&T offer to their
subscribers. Have you switched to the un-carrier due to its ‘un-wrapped’
offers yet?
Apple won’t approve apps that use 3D Touch to weigh objects on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus,
but one developer has bypassed its rules with a clever web app that
does exactly that. It’s called TouchScale.co, and it’s surprisingly
accurate.
Asher Trockman built TouchScale.co after establishing exactly what
the 3D Touch displays in the latest iPhones are capable of when it comes
to detecting pressure, and therefore weight. You can read the results
of his testing on his blog if you want to know all the juicy details.
But if you just want to use the scale, you simply have to visit TouchScale.co in mobile Safari on your iPhone. You can then place objects on your iPhone’s display to weigh them. There are a couple of caveats, however.
The iPhone is only capable of weighing things that can be detected by
the capacitive touchscreen, such as fruit and vegetables. To get an
accurate reading, you must also place those objects down in such a way
that only one touch is registered by your device.
Get it right, though, and you have a surprisingly accurate pocket
scale. I did a couple of tests using a satsuma and a lemon, and the
reading I got from my iPhone was just 1 or 2 grams out versus the
reading I got from a proper kitchen scale — as you can see in the photos
below.
We certainly wouldn’t recommend ditching all your scales if you have
an iPhone 6s, then, but it’s nice to know that if you really need to
weigh something in a pinch
This clever web app lets you weigh things on your iPhone 6s using 3D Touch
android, Apple iPhone, Iphone Apps Games Software, News iPhone/ iPod
While spending some time at the Apple Store in New York city for the Hour of Code of event,
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook called Chromebooks a “test machine” when
questioned about the success of Google’s Chromebook in the education
field and surpassing the popularity of iPads.
Cook said that Chromebooks are just “test machines” and Apple is
interested “helping students learn” and allowing “kids to learn how to
create and engage on a different level.” He also said that iPads are
better than Chromebooks and its other competitors due to the education
related apps available for it, and how the device easily integrates into
a school’s curriculum. In comparison, Chromebooks require constant
access to an internet connection and can only run apps through its web
browser.
“We are interested in helping students learn and teachers
teach, but tests, no,” Cook said. “We create products that are whole
solutions for people — that allow kids to learn how to create and engage
on a different level.”
Schools, colleges and other educational institutions have always used
a Mac and iPad for their computing purposes because of the superior
experience they offer, but over the last few years, many institutions
have swiftly replaced them with Chromebooks.
Cook, however, conveniently forgot the primary reason why Chromebooks
are being increasingly preferred by more schools over Macs and iPads:
price. Many schools simply cannot afford expensive Apple hardware and
Chromebooks are able to offer almost the same experience at one-third
the price.
Has your school or college switched over to a Chromebook from an iPad or Mac?
Yesterday, Apple released tvOS 9.1 to owners of the new Apple TV. With the new software, support for Apple’s official iOS Remote app was also brought to the table.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg
when it comes to Apple’s iOS Remote app, which has been a longstanding
accessory for Apple TV owners who don’t necessarily want to use (or
can’t find) the physical Apple TV remote that Apple bundled in the box.
According to Apple’s Eddy Cue, speaking with BuzzFeed News, the iOS Remote app is going to get a lot better in the near future.
Cue says that, in the early part of 2016, Apple plans on
releasing a “new Apple TV remote app” which will “give you the full
functionality of the Siri Remote” right on your iPhone. Seeing as the
standard iOS Remote app already provides the necessary functions for the
previous generation Apple TVs, Apple’s decision to essentially make a
backup, or alternative, remote for the new Apple TV, including all of
the features one can find in the Siri Remote included in the new Apple
TV’s box, just makes sense.
“We’re working on a new Apple TV remote app that will
give you the full functionality of the Siri Remote on your iPhone,” Cue
said. “We’re hoping to ship that in the first half of next year.”
That’s not all the good news Cue had to talk about in the interview,
though. While streaming content is obviously one huge tentpole for the
new Apple TV, Cue says that there’s a big push in games, too.
Interestingly enough, Cue points back to the iPhone and the fact that
Apple didn’t necessarily position the device as one to play games on,
but that gaming on the handheld machine eventually found footing and
expanded a great deal. Cue says he’s seeing a similar trend with the new
Apple TV already, and that the future for the platform as a gaming unit
is very bright.
“What we’re seeing with the new Apple TV is to me very
similar to what happened with gaming on the iPhone,” Cue said. “When we
first announced the iPhone, we didn’t tout it as a gaming device. But
games became a huge part of iPhone, because it turns out that a lot more
people than just hardcore gamers love games. We expanded the market. I
think the vast majority of people around the world probably aren’t
looking to buy an Xbox or PlayStation. But that doesn’t mean they don’t
enjoy playing games. I think Apple TV expands the gaming market to those
people.”
Finally, Cue touched on developer support for the brand new platform
that is tvOS and the App Store that’s available to customers. Cue
highlighted that the new App Store already has over 2,000 apps available
for owners of the new Apple TV, and that more are coming thanks to
“tremendous” developer interest.
“Already we have over 2,000 apps live in the store. And
on the customer side, things are going great. What we’ve found is that a
little over half of transactions are coming from people upgrading from
the last Apple TV and just about the other half are coming from new
customers that are buying their first Apple TV.”
What do you think of the new Siri Remote features coming to the iOS
Remote app? If you own a new Apple TV, have you been playing a lot of
games on it?
[via BuzzFeed]
Apple is bringing Siri Remote features to the iOS Remote app in early 2016; sees bold future for gaming
One reason could be that many believe
the iPhone’s battery life could be better just by default, and that
Apple releasing a battery pack is acknowledging that the iPhone’s
battery life isn’t great, so just throw more money at the issue.
However, Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, has a bit of a different outlook on the
new accessory.
In a recent conversation with Mashable, Cook
says the new battery case isn’t meant to be used as a tool to charge the
iPhone on a daily basis, but to make sure that your iPhone has enough
juice to get you through an extended period of time. Like, for example,
going on a hike and then camping out overnight:
“if you’re charging your phone every day, you probably
don’t need this at all. But if you’re out hiking and you go on overnight
trips… it’s kind of nice to have.”
As for the design of the case itself, Cook has comments on that, too.
Starting with what many are calling “the hump,” Cook doesn’t think he’d
necessarily call it that:
“You know, I probably wouldn’t call it ‘the hump,’” said
Cook, who added he was aware of the comments surrounding the Smart
Battery Case.”
Expanding a bit further on the overall design of the new “smart
case,” Cook indicates that it was all about making it possible to get
the iPhone 6/6s in and out of the accessory as easily as possible.
Indeed, many cases out there provide extra battery life for the device
by locking the phone into a case with several different parts. Apple’s
battery case, on the other hand, has a design that simply allows the
iPhone to slide in and out.
“As you probably know from being a user of this now,”
said Cook as he grabbed my iPhone 6, which was sporting the new case,
“one of the real insights here is, have you ever used other cases and
tried to get them on?” If you make this solid all the way across,” said
Cook, indicating the spots where the Apple case’s embedded battery stops
and you just have the soft fluoroelastomer casing, “in order to get it
on, you’d find it very difficult to get it on and off. So the guys had
this great insight to put the bend in along with making it a smart
case,” Cook explained.”
It’s at least interesting to see what Cook thinks of the new case,
though, it’s not surprising that he has an overall positive outlook on
the new accessory from Apple.
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