Sony offering $350 in goodies for Z1, Z1S, and Z2
Sony on Thursday announced a limited-time promotion for the Z1, Z1S, and Z2 smartphones. Worth up to $350, the devices will be able to download and install a number of applications, six movies, and access a host of services. What’s more, users can download the forthcoming Michael Jackson album, XSCAPE. The deal runs today through July 31; the Xperia Z2 will ship with the pre-loaded content. The Z1 and Z1S can grab the goodies from the Xperia Lounge app.
- Garmin, Full Suite
- OfficeSuite Pro Full version
- Box 50GB for life
- Evernote premium, 3mths
- Bitcasa 1TB storage, 3mths
- 10 Xperia themes
- Social live premium, 1mth*
- Three additional games and apps
The post Sony offering $350 in goodies for Z1, Z1S, and Z2 appeared first on AndroidGuys.
UpNext is a simple calendar widget that’s focused on your next task [App of the Day]
We cover a ton of calendar apps and widgets at AndroidGuys, but what can we say? They’re functional, pretty, and they’re all different. UpNext is a widget, not a calendar app, that gives you a detailed look at your day as it goes by.
Most agenda calendars give you a glimpse at your next event from day-to-day, and that’s about it. Where UpNext differs from the lot is that it gives you current event info for your entire day. When you have some spare time in between two events, UpNext will let you know the amount of time you have to spare. Not only that, but it gives you the amount of days you have off until your next event, as well.
It’s super functional, and it’s what more calendar apps should do. The free version lets you customize the look and feel of the widget. If you want to choose which calendars are selected to show, you’ll need to upgrade to the $1.59 premium version.
If a more functional calendar widget interests you, grab it from the Play Store today!
The post UpNext is a simple calendar widget that’s focused on your next task [App of the Day] appeared first on AndroidGuys.
MacRumors 2014 Blood Drive
MacRumors is pleased to announce the Fifth Annual MacRumors Blood Drive, throughout the month of May 2014. Our goal is to increase the number of life-saving donations in real-world communities by encouraging everyone in our online community to step forward. While most blood drives are specific to a geographic location or collection center, our blood drive is online and worldwide. Our past blood drives have collectively recorded donations of hundreds of units of blood and platelets.
We ask that you:
1. Donate blood or platelets at any donation center or hospital near you. Join the bone marrow registry in your country. Sign up for the organ donor registry in your state, province, or country.
2. Post in the MacRumors 2014 Blood Drive! thread. Tell us about your donation or registration experience, or post a post-donation selfie. We’d like to thank you.
3. Share the news and our message with other people you know, online and in person. Convince one other person to donate blood in the month of May. Help us thank the donors who post about their experiences.
For details see the MacRumors 2014 Blood Drive! thread and our traditional Honor Roll of recognized donors.
Why donate blood or platelets?
Donated blood and platelets save the lives of people recovering from accidents, undergoing surgery, or struck by illness. These are people in your own neighborhoods who need your help. Donated blood and platelets are needed every 2 seconds, not just when hurricanes, earthquakes, and other disasters occur. An hour of your time could save up to 3 lives.
Why join the bone marrow registry?
With a simple cheek swab you are volunteering to donate stem cells or bone marrow if you match someone dying from a disease like leukemia. There are many thousands of people each year searching for donors to save their lives. You might be the one and only person who can save a particular patient’s life.
Why join the organ donor registry?
Thousands of people die every year while waiting for organ transplants. Your donation of organs when your own life ends could save the lives of as many as 8 people.
The lives you save may belong to your friends, neighbors, relatives, or complete strangers. Someday you may receive the same generosity from others. There’s no gift more precious than the gift of life.
This year’s first blood donor: forum member “stridemat”
What to do today
See the links and general information in our two knowledge base articles: Blood and Platelet Donation and Organ, Tissue, and Bone Marrow Donation. Donor eligibility rules vary by country.
1. If you are eligible to donate blood: Schedule a blood or platelet donation, in May if possible. Register for the bone marrow registry. Register as an organ donor.
2. If you aren’t eligible to donate blood: Some people aren’t eligible to donate blood for medical reasons, while others are barred by government policies that many find outdated. Speak your mind about it in the Blood donor eligibility thread. You can probably still register for the bone marrow registry and register as an organ donor.
3. Help our drive by thanking donors and convincing a friend or relative to donate blood.
Apple charity
Apple’s support for charity has picked up in recent years. Apple has supported a number of health, relief, and charity efforts over the years, especially through Product (RED). See our updated knowledge base article: Apple Support for Charity.
Apple Maintains Narrowing Lead in Tablet Market Share [iOS Blog]
Research firm IDC today published its tablet shipments estimates for the first calendar quarter of 2014, with Apple holding onto its lead in tablet market share. According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, the iPad accounts for approximately one third of all global tablets shipped in the first three months of 2014.
On a vendor basis, Apple remains the number one manufacturer, but its dominance is starting to slip. iPad shipments declined both quarterly and yearly, causing Apple to lose some ground to rival Samsung, which saw increases in both units shipped and market share.
Apple maintained its lead in the worldwide tablet plus 2-in-1 market, shipping 16.4 million units. That’s down from 26.0 million units in the previous quarter and well below its total of 19.5 million units in the first quarter of 2013. Despite the contraction, the company saw its share of the market slip only modestly to 32.5%, down from the previous quarter’s share of 33.2%. Samsung once again grew its worldwide share, increasing from 17.2% last quarter to 22.3% this quarter. Samsung continues to work aggressively with carriers to drive tablet shipments through attractively priced smartphone bundles. Rounding out the top five were ASUS (5%), Lenovo (4.1%), and Amazon (1.9%).
On a platform basis, Android is the leader with a two-thirds share of the market, followed by iOS. Windows market share remains small, but is growing due to popularity of inexpensive, hybrid notebook tablets like the ASUS Transformer T100.
When analyzing these numbers, it is important to note that IDC tracks shipments instead of sales, making it impossible to know how many shipped devices were actually purchased by consumers and how many remain on retail shelves. IDC’s figures also are estimates, as most companies do not release their exact tablet shipment data. Research firms like IDC must rely on supply chain data and calculations from information that is made public by manufacturers to build their estimates.
Wild Rumor of Apple EarPods with Biometric Sensors Has Roots in Apple’s Research
A seemingly wild rumor of Apple planning to launch new EarPods headphones with integrated heart rate and blood pressure sensors has been making the rounds today after the claim was posted on anonymous information sharing platform Secret (via Reddit).
Apple’s new EarPods will have sensors in them, for heart rate & blood pressure. Also iBeacons so they don’t get lost. They will require the lightning port, it’s why the audio jack was moved to the bottom. […]
It stores the data in a similar way to thumbprint point data, fully encrypted and nothing identifiable. But nice to send to your doctor to keep track of at which point your blood pressure started rising for example. […]
Redesigned remote too. Extra mic for better noise canceling.
While a number of major tech stories have in fact broken on Secret, the anonymous nature of the platform makes it all but impossible to separate legitimate claims from fiction without corroborating information from other sources. As a result, it’s easy to dismiss this EarPods rumor from someone claiming to have recently been let go from Apple.
But what makes the rumor a bit more interesting is that it has roots in Apple’s research as documented in patent applications dating back years. Whether the Secret rumor is a fake inspired by those patent filings or if there actually is something to it is unknown, but it’s worth taking another look at what Apple has proposed.
In one patent application filed in March 2007 and claiming a priority date of September 2006, Apple proposes using sensors integrated into various accessories or even devices themselves to collect physiological data.
The present invention can include systems and methods for integrating sensors for tracking a user’s performance metrics into electronic devices and accessories therefor. In one embodiment of the present invention, the electronic devices can include portable media devices similar to iPods sold by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. or cellular telephones similar to iPhones designed by Apple Inc.
In one embodiment, the present invention can include headsets having one or more integrated physiological sensors. The headsets can be, for example, headphones for receiving audio signals from a media device or headsets for communication with cellular telephones. The sensor signals can be transmitted to a data repository through the same communication channel through which audio signals are transmitted to the headset (e.g., hard-wired or wireless).
Apple’s concepts for sensor clipped onto earlobe (left) to monitor pulse/oxygen levels or adhered to the skin (right)
Alternatively, Apple proposes using sensors embedded in an iPod or iPhone “sling” armband to monitor such data. Notably, two of the inventors listed on the patent filing are longtime accessories head Jesse Dorogusker, who moved to Square in 2012, and “father of the iPod” Tony Fadell, who left Apple in 2008 before starting Nest.
A second filing, which was granted as a patent this February, more directly addresses headphone-based physiological monitoring, although the application is also quite old, having been filed in August 2008 with an October 2007 priority date.
The invention pertains to a monitoring system that can be placed proximate to the head or ear of a user. According to one embodiment, the monitoring system can be used with a hearing device, headphones, earbuds or headsets. The monitoring system can, for example, be used to monitor user activity, such as during exercise or sporting activities. The positioning of the monitoring system can also facilitate sensing of other user characteristics (e.g., biometric data), such as temperature, perspiration and heart rate.
Advantageously, the invention can provide monitoring capabilities within a hearing device. Assuming the user is otherwise using the hearing device, such as to provide audio output by a portable media player, the user gains monitoring capabilities without requiring the user to wear or carry an additional article.
Apple’s concepts for sensors integrated directly into earpiece (left) or in a separate housing (right)
Biometrics have been rumored to be a significant part of iOS 8, with a new “Healthbook” app for tracking various types of health-related information being a key addition to Apple’s mobile operating system. With Apple also rumored to be deploying biometric sensors in an upcoming iWatch, it’s clear that the company has been looking at ways of collecting health-related data for many years and the effort may finally be coming together.
64GB Patriot Stellar OTG USB 3.0 on sale for $24.99
We previously reviewed and the Patriot Stellar OTG USB 3.0 external flash drive and the results were, well stellar. It’s fast, compact, well-made and is perfect for those needing extra storage for their devices. There was a prior promo through Patriot and Amazon to get a 32GB Stellar for $24.75 which expired. Well, Newegg has just doubled down and you can get the 64GB version, which normally goes for $38.99 for $24.99 after you include a $14 rebate card. Check it out and get yours today.
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Edward Snowden’s OS of choice, the Linux-based Tails, is now out of beta
Edward Snowden knows better than most how effectively the NSA can scope us online, so that’s why he used the Amnesiac Incognito Live System (Tails) to cover his own whistleblowing. That OS is now out of beta as version 1.0, letting you surf on most PCs while leaving zero trace of your activities. Its anonymizing apps include email and IM clients, an office suite, a web browser, image and sound editors and the infamous Tor anonymity network system. There’s no need for an installation, as it can run from a USB key, DVD or SD card independently of your existing OS, without touching your hard drives. If you’ve used the app before, the (anonymous) developers are advising you to grab the new release, as there are a host of security and bug fixes.
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Software
Via: CNET
Source: Tails project
PlayStation 4 indie devs are already using Project Morpheus
Becoming an independent PlayStation 4 developer is easy, Sony’s Adam Boyes tells us: “You just have to sign up.” The PlayStation VP of publisher and developer relations was explaining what the company has done to woo indie devs. Half the job was just making developer programs more accessible. “Before GDC last year we didn’t even have a website where you could go and find out about it, but now we have a very well thought out process.” Boyes says that anyone who qualifies as an independent developer can get a free (loaner) developer kit, too — a similar deal applies to Project Morpheus, too.
“It’s a very similar process,” he told us. “if we’re working with you closely, then the [VR] dev kits are going to come through a loan program.” Even so, PlayStation has to dole out the headsets carefully. There just aren’t that many to go around. “The only real concern is supply,” he explained. “We have to do what makes sense, as far as when we send it to different developers.”
Short supply hasn’t stopped Project Morpheus from getting attention in the indie world. “A lot of them are trying it out and seeing how it works. Getting to know how it runs,” Boyes told us. When asked about the fruits of their labors, he backpedaled, reminding us that Morpheus is just “sort of a tech project” that PlayStation is working on. It’s not a product yet. Lest you forget, Morpheus is still in the prototype phase, and the only release window for a final version is, “not this year.” We expect Sony will stay reserved when it comes to Morpheus claims for some time, until the hardware is in better shape.
Still, Boyes is focused on giving independent developers the tools they need to build new and interesting gaming experiences — VR or otherwise. “Being able to facilitate those great ideas that are kind of… crazy and nuts, that’s what gamers want, right?” Boyes said. “We need to be agile, and allow them to get on the platform so those crazy ideas can come bear.”
Boyes demonstrated that agility in the announcement last evening of another gaggle of indie games headed to PlayStation platforms, many embodying those “crazy ideas” he spoke of during our interview. Joystiq‘s got a rundown of all those titles, including indie hits like Nidhogg and Escape Goat 2, right here.
Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, Wearables, Software, HD, Sony
Remembering BASIC on its 50th birthday
Nowadays, “basic” has a very different and derogatory Urban Dictionary-style meaning. Fifty years ago on this very day, however, it was the name given to a new computer-programming language born in a Dartmouth College basement. Devised initially by a group of the school’s undergraduates and professors, BASIC’s initial academic purpose was simple: to enable time-sharing on Dartmouth computers with an easy-to-learn, English-based language. Programming itself has greatly evolved since, but our early memories of coding in BASIC are no less fond.
Jose Andrade
I was about 10 years old when my aunt decided she didn’t know what to do with her Commodore 64 and gave it to me. I was thrilled. I’d played games on an Atari 2600 before, but this was different. This was a real computer.
After playing more advanced games on the C64 for a few months, I realized I could do something called “programming.” Somewhere, I found a manual for BASIC and tried out my first commands:
10 PRINT “JOSE”
20 GOTO 10
Suddenly, my name was scrolling on the screen. The computer was calling me! This may sound simple and probably even dumb today, but it changed my life. I’d made something. I’d made a computer execute a program, and it had my name all over it.
BASIC on a Commodore 64 was very limited; well, it was extremely “basic,” of course. I never did much with it, though I did create a few question-and-answer games that I played with my cousin. No matter what, looking back, I appreciate that BASIC opened the doors to something bigger. It made me realize that I could actually create things thanks to technology. It made me fall in love with technology and programming.
When I was a teenager, I thought I’d grow up to become an attorney or diplomat and use technology in my spare time. In fact, I went to law school for a couple of years as an undergrad in Ecuador, but then dropped out. I didn’t want to spend my life surrounded by suits and bureaucrats. So I went back to college, but this time to pursue a computer science degree.
While I couldn’t say that BASIC alone was the reason why I now live and breathe technology, that first GOTO statement certainly helped me become the person I am now.
Dave Schumaker
During the summer of 1994, I vaguely remember my parents strongly hinting that I should go outside more. Being a really nerdy kid, I had an aversion to things like sunlight, sports and socializing with others. But my parents kept insisting that I needed to do something to “get out of the house.” One of their ideas was that I look into some “fun” summer classes run by my middle school. “I’ll show them,” I thought, and immediately looked for anything that’d give off a comforting glow from a cathode-ray tube. I found two options:
1. An introduction to HyperCard
2. Learning to program with BASIC
Since I was about 12 years old at the time, I remember thinking, “Who would use HyperCard? And who would use a Mac?” (We were a die-hard PC house at the time.) I don’t think I had a strong preference toward either, but I remember ultimately choosing the BASIC course because of that QBASIC Gorillas game. I always wanted to make my own games, and thought that maybe taking this BASIC course would help me understand the source code of that game.
Summer came and went and about the only things I mastered were GOTO commands and how to display someone’s name when they typed it in. “Hello, David!” ended up being an output screen that I saw fairly often and basically represented the extent of my coding abilities at the time.
The next semester, we were given an assignment to “invent the future.” It required teams of students to come up with some idea from the future that would change our lives and demo it in front of the class. Then we’d discuss the pros and cons of each invention. A lot of groups made cardboard or papier-mâché models of things like toasters and food processors that would predict what we wanted for breakfast and make it. I partnered up with a fellow nerdy friend and we created the World Wide Web in BASIC!
Or at least a very simple, text-based version of it that we modeled on CompuServe and Prodigy welcome screens. It was a ridiculously simple program that had four options and made copious use of GOTO commands:
1. Check email
2. Chat with friends
3. Check weather
4. Visit a website
Thanks to that summer of learning BASIC, I continued to tinker with various programming languages as I got older. It’s never developed into anything more than a serious hobby, but it’s been fun and even useful to be able to make some simple programs that help automate various tasks. That said, 20 years later, I’m still trying to create a game that does more than say, “Hello, David!”
Frank Spinillo
Reading the word “BASIC” instantly transports me back to my senior year of high school, when I’d gotten my first real exposure to programming. I’d done some dabbling in MS-DOS, but this course was going to be my real intro to programming. I assumed we were going to start off learning Visual Basic or go right into C++. But no, instead, we had to start from square one with BASIC. Or rather, QuickBASIC, which was Microsoft’s IDE and compiler for BASIC. What the 17-year-old me didn’t realize then was QuickBASIC would set up a nice foundation for understanding programming syntax.
The programs we made at the time were simple; nothing more than basic (no pun intended) programs to get comfortable with the language. I recall a lot of simple counting programs that scrolled from zero to 50, or only printed numbers if they met specific criteria, like being a multiple of five. I wrote a few programs that relied heavily on conditional if/then/else statements and loops.
One day, I figured out how to create sounds inside of a program with the simple syntax of SOUND. The wiseass in me thought it’d be funny to create programs that did nothing more than produce nonsensical sounds. So I did just that and filled the classroom with beeps and boops. My teacher decided it was best I keep my musical aspirations to band class and out of the computer. Still, for as simple as QuickBASIC was, I still had those moments of frustration when my program would error out. This lead to my first “a-ha!” moment; a moment many programmers experience while debugging. And that is something I will always be thankful to BASIC for.
Terrence O’Brien
When it comes to coding, my list of accomplishments is quite short: I’ve made the light blink on my Arduino and created a crude text adventure game on an old Psion Organiser II. My crowning achievement, however, was a virus hoax I built in BASIC.
It started one afternoon as a practical joke I played on a friend’s father. The program was a rather primitive reproduction of a DOS prompt that just ignored everything he typed and, instead, pretended to execute its own commands — namely, formatting the hard drive. He’d press “w” and it would display “f”; instead of “i,” it would display “o.” This would continue until “format c:” was completed. To call the program crude would have been generous. It couldn’t even fool my Luddite target, largely thanks to the fact that I hadn’t quite figured out how to dispose of the question mark BASIC inserted at the end of every line when waiting for an input.
Over the following months, I fine-tuned it and eventually built something that convincingly recreated MS-DOS. It still basically just ignored anything a user typed, but at least now it spit out convincing error codes rather than jumping straight to the “format c:” gag. Plus, I’d finally managed to banish that pesky question mark for good while also adding in devious new features. If, for example, someone tried to run a few commands, the program would begin to taunt whoever was using it before ultimately trapping them into agreeing to run “format c:” — /Proceed with format (Y/Y)?/
When it was finally perfected, I deployed my virus hoax on its ultimate mission: My father’s place of work. (Now would be a good time to clarify that my father worked at a major international bank.) I walked around his office with a loaded floppy disk and set it running on a handful of computers. Although everyone quickly figured out it was a joke, there were a few moments of panic as people tried, in vain, to get their PCs to respond to their commands.
Sony expects huge loss after bailing on PC business
Here’s a euphemism to start your morning: Sony just issued a news alert, giving investors a heads-up that it’s “revising” its earnings forecast for the 2014 fiscal year, which actually ended back on March 31st. Revising! Here’s what that really means: Sony previously said it would generate 80 billion yen in income for the year. The company is now dialing that estimate down to 26 billion yen — a decrease of 67.5 percent. All told, the company expects to book a net loss of 130 billion yen (final numbers to be announced later this month). Previously, it said it would lose 110 billion. Ouch, Sony.
So what happened? How could Sony’s prediction have been so far off? What happened was a major restructuring in which Sony sold off its PC business. So, not only did Sony have to pay 30 billion yen in fees as it wound down its VAIO division; it also has loads of unsold computers that no one wants (can you blame people?). Here’s how the company put it:
Since Sony’s announcement on February 6, 2014 that it will exit the PC business, PC sales for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 and expected PC sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015 are underperforming the February expectation. Consequently, Sony expects to record write-downs for excess components in inventory and accrual of expenses to compensate suppliers for unused components ordered for Sony’s spring PC lineup.
Adding injury to injury, the company also expects to book a roughly 25-billion-yen charge related to its disc business, which apparently isn’t doing as well as expected, especially in Europe. No surprise there: Who buys Blu-ray discs anymore? (Not Europeans, apparently.)
AIVAnet 