Google Voice Search Now Identifies Your Contacts Relationship
We all have some form of relationship set in our Google contacts. Be it ‘Mom’, ‘Wife’, ‘Better Half’ or ‘That Friend’. While some of us use these identifiers as the contact name, other times we just know who that person is and use their real name. Sometimes that can get tricky with voice activated function, especially if you have a ton of contacts that have the same first name, but you put the last name as the identifier ie David brother. A new feature is now available in Google Now that can help simplify your contact and how you connect to them with voice search and actions.
If you have the relationship in the contact, then you should be good to go and simply state what you want to do. If you don’t, you will be prompted to identify who that relationship referred to. For instance, I pulled out the Moto X and said “Text the wife, how is the appointment going?” I obviously didn’t have my wife listed as my wife in the contacts, so it prompted me to identify who it was.
After that, everytime I say ‘text the wife’, or ‘call the wife’ or anything else that I need to involve “the wife” on, Google knows who it is. Pretty cool really. Sadly it wouldn’t pick up or let me set anything profane to a contact. I tried in the relationship field to set various words that we all use to describe some people in our lives, but it failed me many times. Seems the defaults like Mom, Dad, Wife, Brother, Grandma, Grandpa and the likes are your best bets.
Via Google’s G+ page
Apple University’s Joel Podolny Goes Full-Time, Drops Human Resources Job [Mac Blog]
Apple’s current head of human resources, Joel Podolny, has left his role to focus full-time on Apple University, according to Apple spokesperson Kristin Huguet, who spoke to Bloomberg. Apple University is called “an increasingly important resource” in the note written to the news site.
“We are excited that Denise Young Smith will expand her role to lead Apple’s worldwide human resources organization,” Huguet wrote in an e-mail. “Apple University is an increasingly important resource within the company as we continue to grow, so Joel Podolny will be focusing full-time on developing and scaling the University he helped establish.”
Podolny, formerly the dean of Yale University’s School of Management, helped to establish Apple University, a management training program designed to train future Apple executives, alongside Steve Jobs. Apple University reportedly teaches specific tenets laid out by Jobs, including accountability, attention to detail, perfectionism, simplicity, and secrecy.
Classes have been taught by both noted professors and Apple executives, under Podolny’s guidance. Some case studies have included the story behind Apple’s retail strategy and its approach to commissioning factories in China. Lectures also aim to cover crises and missteps experienced by both Apple and other major businesses to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
To replace Podolny, Apple has tapped its vice president of global retail stores, Denise Young Smith, who will be the new head of human resources.
Along with the shifting roles for Podolny and Young Smith, Apple has lost Rita Lane, vice president of operations for the iPad, Macs, and Mac accessories, who recently retired from the company.
(Image courtesy of CNN)
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iOS 7.1 to Fix Geolocation Issue That Broke Location-Based Apps [iOS Blog]
Apple has reversed a change it made to how users quit location-aware apps in iOS 7. In the new OS, Apple changed how location-aware applications work when they are force-quit by users. In iOS 7.0, users who force quit an app — by double-tapping the home button and swiping up — also disable all location-aware functions which previously would continue to run in the background.
One app in particular, Life360, uses background location abilities to allow family and friends to locate each other. In iOS 7, when a user force quits the app, all location-aware background services were disabled. This caused the company to have a sudden influx of negative reviews and disappointed customers. Some apps even saw 30-50 percent drops in users following the change, according to Life360 CEO Chris Hulls who spoke to MacRumors yesterday.
Now, in iOS 7.1 beta 5, released a week ago, the change has been reversed and Hulls attributes that to a letter that Life360 and a number of other developers sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook on February 1. In the beta, background location services remain running when an app is force quit, same as in iOS 6.
VentureBeat has the first several paragraphs of the letter:
Dear Apple iOS Development Team,
We are a group of Apple developers who rely on iOS geolocation services for core parts of our businesses. iOS 7 was hugely exciting to us, as new features such as Location Beacons, Background Networking, and Multi-Peer Connectivity give us the ability to do things we never thought were possible.
In previous versions of iOS, if a user killed an application in the app switcher, developers were still able to get geolocation in the background. With iOS 7, once a user kills an application, all processes are terminated until the user manually restarts the app. We appreciate the intent behind this change, which we realize was done to give users more control over what is running on their phones, but it has caused major unintended consequences. … Many developers who rely on background geolocation have seen their app ratings fall by over 3 stars.
Life360 is a free download on the App Store. [Direct Link]
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Sony Likely to Provide Front-Facing Camera Sensors for Future iPhone
Sony may provide Apple with image sensors for both the front and rear cameras in a future iPhone, according to a new report from Japanese business site Nikkei, which suggests that Apple and Sony are in negotiations that would double Sony’s shipments to the Cupertino company in 2015.
The Japanese firm already supplies nearly all of the CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) sensors for the current iPhone models’ rear-mounted main cameras. Apple is likely looking to switch to Sony sensors for the secondary camera on the screen side, used for taking self-portraits.
Sony recently purchased a new manufacturing plant, reportedly aimed at stepping up production in order to comply with Apple’s request for more sensors. Sony will invest 35 billion yen in the facility, which will boost its monthly production capacity by 25 percent.
Since the iPhone 4s, Sony has supplied Apple with sensors for the iPhone’s rear camera, while OmniVision has supplied the sensors for the front camera.
Historically, the iPhone’s front camera has been of a significantly lower quality than its rear camera. For example, the rear camera in the iPhone 5s, which utilizes a sensor from Sony, is eight megapixels while the front camera is just 1.2 megapixels. While Apple has worked hard to improve the rear camera with each iteration of the iPhone, the front-facing camera has received little attention.
Sony, a camera manufacturer itself, is well-known for its impressive sensors and its work getting large, light-absorbing sensors into small cameras. Apple too has focused its efforts on improved sensors and low-light picture taking capabilities even as its competitors, like Nokia, aim to focus only on higher megapixels.
Apple has greatly improved its iPhone camera with each iteration, and the iPhone 5s, its best camera yet, utilizes a larger sensor with a lower aperture for higher quality low-light photos. It is likely that with Sony supplying sensors, the front-facing camera in a future iPhone could see some significant improvements as well.
It does not appear that the Sony-sourced front-facing camera sensors will make it into the iPhone 6 given the timeline specified in the article, and will instead be included in a future iPhone.
As for the iPhone 6, it remains unclear what camera improvements Apple may implement. While an initial rumor suggested the company would continue utilizing the 8-megapixel rear sensor in the iPhone 5s, a subsequent report pointed to a 10-megapixel or higher sensor for the rear-camera with an f/1.8 aperture and an improved lens filter.
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Qualcomm Toq smartwatch update brings activity tracking beta, keeps progress in plain view
If you’ve splurged for Qualcomm’s pricey smartwatch (or may be considering it), a new update looks to expand the capabilities of the wristworn wearable. Thanks to an update to the Toq’s Android app, the gadget now packs activity-tracking software in beta form. During a 24-hour time period, the feature will track your adventures and tally up point totals. In order to keep tabs on progress throughout the day, there’s a new clock face that displays just that, in addition to the hours and minutes. Of course, you can open up the app on your phone in order to see that score, too. The update also adds a world clock with time and weather in cities around the globe and the ability to select either Celsius or Fahrenheit for the trusty temperature scale. If you haven’t been alerted to new software just yet, scoot over to the source link to grab it.
Filed under: Wearables
Via: Droid Life
Source: Google Play
Square and Uniqlo partner to sell on-demand gifts, save your relationship
Valentine’s Day often brings out the last-minute shopper in all of us. Why settle for gas station roses when you could get some finely-tailored Japanese clothing instead? From now through February 17, Uniqlo and Square Market are teaming up to offer Bay-Area lovers on-demand gifts. Shoppers can buy everything from scarves to jackets online, and pick up a wrapped and ready-to-go gift for the love of their life at the store in an hour or less. San Francisco residents already have options like eBay Now and Google Shopping to get items delivered quickly, but neither allow in-person pickups. The Uniqlo partnership is a first attempt at in-person pickups for Square Market, but it’s an idea we could see working at a number of different types of retailers all year long.
We gave the promotion a try, and were impressed with not only how fast the shopping experience was, but also how fast our purchase was ready. To shop you just need to pick a store location, and browse the available items. When you make a purchase you’re given an estimated pickup time, and a text message a few minutes later confirms that time or adjusts it. In our case, our purchase was ready in just 20 minutes. Inside Uniqlo there’s a special table for pickup, so you’re able to bypass all the lines, and look like the thoughtful lover you want to be, rather than the busy, forgetful one you actually are.
Source: Square Market
Researchers’ non-flammable battery could make laptop fires a thing of the past
Even if you weren’t the owner of an HP (or Acer, Dell or Samsung) laptop that went up in flames, you’re likely aware that lithium-ion batteries can pose a (very small) risk of setting your gadgets on fire. And that’s without mentioning larger-scale issues with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Tesla Model S. Rare though these incidents may be, no disasters are much better than some, which is why scientists at UNC Chapel Hill are developing a replacement solution.
The team recently discovered that a fluoride polymer known as PFPE shows very little risk of ignition, especially compared to your standard Li-ion battery. (Interestingly, the material also prevents marine life from sticking to the bottom of ships, but that’s beside the point.) Using PFPE to dissolve lithium salt, researchers discovered that the polymer is a viable, non-flammable alternative to the electrolyte. According to UNC, the electrolyte is the “only inherently flammable component” of current lithium-ion power packs, so this discovery could very well pave the way to a safer product. The next step will improving battery cycle performance, with the goal of integrating the material into the standard battery design. Check out the source link for more info.
Filed under: Laptops, Transportation
Via: Ars Technica
Source: UNC Chapel Hill
Samsung Looking at a Three-Sided Display for the Galaxy Note 4 and Foldable for the Note 5
It is only a matter of time now before OEMs start bending our display reality on our devices. Samsung has already demoed their plans for flexible LED displays, when they showed off a YOUM display prototype at CES 2013. Looks like Samsung is planning on utilizing that YOUM display for the Galaxy Note 4, giving us three sides to look at. They plan on manufacturing a million of these three-sided displays, to see how people respond to them. The Galaxy Round, which was Samsung’s first attempt and a drastically curved display, didn’t really win the hearts of consumers, so they want to test the waters with the three-sided display before mass-producing them.
It is also said that Samsung has invested $1.9 billion in flexible OLEDs which most likely would show up in 2015 for the Galaxy Note 5. Only setback they are having is the battery, and a source claimed that, “Samsung’s battery segment is still way behind compared to its progress in display technology.” They still have high hopes that they will be successful in solving that issue, and get these displays in production.
Source: SamMobile
Google Endorses “The Day We Fight Back.” Calling for Government Surveillance Reform
A blog post went up this morning through the Google Public Policy page stating that they have joined “The Day We Fight Back” and are saying “It’s Time to Reform Government Surveillance Laws”. Google is joining the ranks of internet centric organization such as Reddit, Tumblr, Mozilla, EFF, Fight for the Future, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Free Press and thousands more.
David Segal, the executive director of Demand Progress that has helped to organize “The Day We Fight Back” issued the following statement about Google joining the ranks.
“We are thrilled that Google is joining activists around the world — more than 20,000 calls have been placed to Congress already this morning — in standing up against the NSA’s intrusion into our privacy. Winning this fight is going to require a broad coalition of individuals, organizations, and businesses, one that is coalescing around today’s activism and will persist until we win the fight against mass suspicion-less surveillance.”
Google’s VP of Public Policy, Susan Molinari, has put up an article on the Google Public Policy page going into detail about Google’s policy and action. Google recognizes that there is a real threat out there for U.S. and plenty of other countries, but they believe that the Governments need to operate “under a legal framework that is rule-bound, narrowly tailored, transparent, and subject to oversight.”
Back in December Google unveiled a set of reform principles that addressed many of the recent concerns that have arisen about the NSA and Government surveillance.
- Limit Governments Authority to Collect Users’ Information
- Oversight and Accountability
- Transparency About Government Demands
- Respecting the Free Flow of Information
- Avoid Conflicts Among Governments
We can’t get anywhere without taking the first steps to change things. In an open letter to Washington, signed by AOL, Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo, one paragraph reads:
For our part, we are focused on keeping users’ data secure — deploying the latest encryption technology to prevent unauthorized surveillance on our networks and by pushing back on government requests to ensure that they are legal and reasonable in scope.
The scope doesn’t stop there though, there is also a push to get Congress to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) asking that the Government obtains a warrant before they can contact online companies for disclosure of and content of users communications. More than 100 online companies, including Google, Dropbox, Amazon, Adobe, Apple, AT&T and T-Mobile to name a few, along with over 100,000 signatures from supporting Americans. You can take a look at that list at Digital Due Process.
You can stick your name on the list through Google Take Action page.
Sources: Google Public Policy, Google Take Action, Reform Government Surveillance, Digital Due Process, Whitehouse.gov
Samsung to debut the Galaxy Mega Plus in China
Don’t you wish your Galaxy Mega 5.8 had a better processor? Well, you may be in luck.
Samsung is set to release an updated version of the Galaxy Mega 5.8 – the Galaxy Mega Plus. It’s the same phone as the Mega 5.8 but with a 1.2GHz quad-core processor. It’s a bit of a step up from the dual-core in the original, but is it enough to make people buy it?
It’s also getting a few software enhancements, including S Translator, Popup Play, Group Play, Story Album, Multi Window, and a few more. It’s being released exclusively in China for the time being. And there is no word yet as to whether it will make it to the US.
So far, there is no price tag and no availability information, but we will keep you updated when it surfaces.
Source: Sammy Hub
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