Now you can catch Cat Fact fever from your phone
Did you know that a group of cats is called either a “clowder” or a “glaring?” No? Well, if someone decides to target you with the new Cat Facts app for Android, you’ll know a lot more about cats than that. See, you can anonymously send a series of trivia about our feline friends to anyone you want through the app. You don’t even have to make an effort at sending a stream of annoying cat texts everyday, as you can schedule the app to send out automatically. Cat Facts, for the unaware, is a popular meme that began on Reddit (the seemingly endless source of memes, reaction GIFs and controversies) a couple of years ago.
A user called “imrobert” described how he trolled a stranger with random feline trivia (“Did you know that all cats are born blind? The ability to see comes within the next couple of weeks.”) on a thread asking the best prank one’s ever pulled. His efforts have inspired another user whose Reddit thread, which shows the mental anguish his cousin suffered due to the incessant barrage of useless Felis catus info, took the website my storm. The rest, as they say, is history.
While this new Cat Facts app will make it easier to target several people at once, it only comes with five free anonymous facts, with more available through in-app purchase. If you don’t mind friends knowing that you’re the one filling their inboxes with trash, though, you can send as many texts as they want. Obviously, you can always fire up Wikipedia and DIY it on a day off, but the app saves you the trouble of having to type up cat facts yourself.
[Image credit: Getty/fStop Images – Vladimir Godnik]
Via: TechCrunch, ReadWrite
Source: Cat Facts, Google Play
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WhatsApp for Android Wear will have you talking to your wrist
With over 500 million active users, WhatsApp probably has more than a few customers sporting Android Wear. Starting today, those folks will be able to read and reply to messages directly from their wrist. The new features are launching somewhat quietly though — the App’s Google Play listing hasn’t been updated yet, and the direct link on WhatsApp’s website makes no mention of the smartwatch features — but users who update manually will find a new app installed on their Google Wear device. It’s more than a simple notification push, too: users can read stacked conversation messages and even reply to them using voice. The update will probably hit Google’s servers soon, but if you can’t wait you can grab the official download right here.
Filed under: Wearables, Google
Source: WhatsApp, 9to5Google
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What’s on your HDTV: ‘Hard Knocks’, ‘Black Jesus’, ‘The Knick’ and Shark Week
Beyond the summer TV shows already running (VH1′s Naked Dating is exactly what you’d expect, The Leftovers and The Strain are improving and FX has two good comedies in Married and You’re the Worst), and Discovery kicking off Shark Week on Sunday night, there are a few new shows this week worth mentioning. Steven Soderbergh and Clive Owen bring The Knick to Cinemax, which puts a twist on the usual doctor drama by transferring the scene back to 1900. Starz is ready with “Scotland’s Answer to Game of Thrones” aka Outlander, a book adaptation about a British Army nurse who time travels from 1945 to 1743. Fans of Grand Theft Auto and The Boondocks should keep an eye out for Black Jesus on Adult Swim, which is created by Aaron Macgruder and stars Gerald “Slink” Johnson (aka Lamar from GTA V and the guy in this Everest College parody). On Blu-ray, Baltimore documentary 12 O’Clock Boys Bill Murray’s The Man Who Knew Too Little and cult classic Phantom of the Paradise are probably more worth your time than Divergent or Need for Speed. Check after the break for a list of what’s new this week plus a few trailers, and drop a note in the comments if you see any highlights we’ve missed.
Blu-ray, Streaming movies & Games
- Divergent
- Oculus
- The Man Who Knew Too Little
- Need for Speed
- 12 O’Clock Boys
- The Full Monty
- Phantom of the Paradise
- The Swapper (PS4, PS3)
- Road Not Taken (PS4)
- Sacred 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
Monday
- Switched at Birth, ABC Family, 8PM
- Running Wild with Bear Grylls, NBC, 8PM
- WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
- Whose Line Is It Anyway?, CW, 8PM
- Partners (series premiere), FX, 9 & 9:30PM
- Nixon by Nixon – In His Own Words, HBO, 9PM
- American Ninja Warrior, NBC, 9PM
- The Fosters, ABC Family, 9PM
- Major Crimes, TNT, 9PM
- Anger Management, FX, 10 & 10:30PM
- Idris Elba: the King of Speed, BBC America, 10PM
- Under the Dome, CBS, 10PM
- Murder in the First, TNT, 10PM
- Teen Wolf, MTV, 10PM
- Longmire (season finale), A&E, 10PM
Tuesday
- Country Music Awards Music Festival, ABC, 8PM
- Food Fighters, NBC, 8PM
- Pretty Little Liars, ABC Family, 8PM
- Face Off, Syfy, 9PM
- Matador, El Rey, 9PM
- Rizzoli & Isles, TNT, 9PM
- Chasing Life, ABC Family, 9PM
- Royal Pains , USA, 9PM
- Deadliest Catch, Discovery, 9PM
- Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Atlanta Falcons (season premiere), HBO, 10PM
- The Wil Wheaton Project, Syfy, 10PM
- Finding Carter, MTV, 10PM
- Drunk History, Comedy Central, 10PM
- Perception, TNT, 10PM
- Tyrant, FX, 10PM
- Covert Affairs, USA, 10PM
- Nathan for You, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
- Sullivan & Son, TBS, 10PM
Wednesday
- Penn & Teller: Fool Us, CW, 8PM
- Altman, Epix, 8PM
- Unsung: Hi Five, TV One, 8PM
- Big Brother, CBS, 8PM
- Young & Hungry, ABC Family, 8PM
- So You Think You Can Dance, Fox, 8PM
- Mystery Girls, ABC Family, 8:30PM
- Extant, CBS, 9PM
- 60 Minutes Sports, Showtime, 9PM
- Suits, USA, 9PM
- Dual Survival, Discovery, 9PM
- Sex in the Wild: Dolphins (season finale), PBS, 10PM
- The Bridge, FX, 10PM
- Wilfred, FXX, 10PM
- Taxi Brooklyn, NBC, 10PM
- Motive, ABC, 10PM
- Virgin Territory, MTV, 11PM
- The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, Comedy Central, 12:30AM
Thursday
- The Quest, ABC, 8PM
- Defiance, Syfy, 8PM
- Rush, USA, 9PM
- Dating Naked, VH1, 9PM
- Mythbusters, Discovery, 9PM
- Welcome to Sweden, NBC, 9PM
- Rectify, Sundance TV, 9PM
- Big Brother, CBS, 9PM
- Dominion, Syfy, 9PM
- The Sixties (season finale), CNN, 9PM
- Working the Engels, NBC, 9:30PM
- Gang Related, Fox, 9PM
- Married, FX, 10PM
- Satisfaction, USA, 10PM
- Ridiculousness, MTV, 10PM
- NY Med, ABC, 10PM
- Last Comic Standing, NBC, 10PM
- Garfunkel & Oates (series premiere), IFC, 10PM
- You’re The Worst, FX, 10:30PM
- Black Jesus (series premiere), Cartoon Network, 11PM
- Seven Deadly Sins (series premiere), Showtime, 11PM
Friday
- Masters of Illusion, CW, 8PM
- WWE SmackDown, Syfy, 8PM
- Cold Justice, TNT, 9PM
- L Word Mississippi, Showtime, 9PM
- Almighty Johnsons, Syfy, 10PM
- Jonah from Tonga (series premiere), HBO, 10PM
- The Knick (series premiere), Cinemax, 10PM
Saturday
- Cedar Cove, Hallmark, 8PM
- Hell on Wheels, AMC, 9PM
- Outlander (series premiere), Starz, 9PM
- Stranded in Paradise, Hallmark, 9PM
Sunday
- NASCAR Sprint Cup Series @ Watkins Glen, ESPN, 1PM
- Shark Week: Air Jaws, Discovery, 8PM
- Sunday Night Baseball, ESPN, 8PM
- Teen Choice Awards 2014, Fox, 8PM
- Wipeout, ABC, 8PM
- Big Brother, CBS, 8PM
- Shark Week: Shark of Darkness, Discovery, 9PM
- Ray Donovan, Showtime, 9PM
- Reckless, CBS, 9PM
- True Blood, HBO, 9PM
- The Last Ship, TNT, 9PM
- The Musketeers, BBC America, 9PM
- Rising Star, ABC, 9PM
- Manhattan, WGN, 10PM
- The Lottery, Lifetime, 10PM
- The Strain, FX, 10PM
- Masters of Sex, Showtime, 10PM
- The Leftovers, HBO, 10PM
- Falling Skies, TNT, 10PM
- The Hunt, History, 10PM
- Halt and Catch Fire, AMC, 10PM
- Reckless, CBS, 10PM
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, 11PM
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
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Xiaomi, not Samsung, makes China’s smartphone of choice
Xiaomi has been a significant contender in the phone world for a while, but it’s now safe to say that the Chinese device maker has joined the big leagues. Canalys estimates that Xiaomi shipped more smartphones Samsung in China during the second quarter of the year, making it the top vendor in its home country. Simply put, Xiaomi is a champ at making cheap yet desirable handsets — its budget Redmi series has done a lot to boost sales, and even range-topping devices like the Mi3 (and now Mi4) are much more affordable than alternatives from the likes of Apple and Samsung.
The surge might have even been enough to make Xiaomi one of the biggest phone builders on the global stage. While IDC’s data still doesn’t include Xiaomi in the top five, Strategy Analytics believes that the company jumped into fourth place ahead of LG. Whichever study is on the mark, the data makes it easier to understand why Samsung’s profit took such a big hit in the spring — the Korean firm is up against at least one Chinese rival that’s firing on all cylinders.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung
Via: Wall Street Journal
Source: Canalys
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Verizon Responds to FCC’s Concerns Over Unlimited Data Throttling, Says Plan is Legal [iOS Blog]
Verizon Wireless today wrote a response letter to the FCC’s concerns over its plan to throttle its grandfathered unlimited data customers during peak usage times, insisting that its upcoming usage restrictions are permitted under current law.
Penned by Verizon’s SVP of Federal Regulatory Affairs, Kathleen Grillo, the letter (via The Verge) also points towards the unlimited data restrictions imposed by other carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint, which Verizon says are more draconian than its own throttling plans.
More importantly, Verizon also hammers on the fact that every other major wireless provider in the United States — AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile — has already implemented some form of data throttling or “network optimization” as it’s often called. Verizon goes a step further and says its competitors often have “less tailored” policies that can impact customers regardless of network congestion.
Verizon goes on to emphasize the limited conditions under which its customers will experience LTE throttling, stating slowdowns will occur only at “particular cell sites experiencing unusually high demand” and noting that throttling will end when cell sites become less congested.
According to Verizon’s website, throttling will also be limited to the top five percent of customers and only those who have completed their two-year contracts will be affected. As of July, Verizon’s top five percent of users consisted of customers who used 4.7GB or more of data during the month.
Verizon’s letter is in response to a strongly-worded letter sent last week by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, which stated he was “deeply troubled” by Verizon’s throttling plans. In the missive, Wheeler sent Verizon a series of questions asking the company to explain its rationale for treating customers differently based on data plan type and asking whether the policy was justified under the FCC’s Open Internet rules.
Verizon plans to begin throttling its high-usage LTE customers accessing congested network cells beginning on October 1, and it is unclear if the FCC will take steps to prevent the throttling.
As noted in Verizon’s letter, several other carriers have implemented LTE usage restrictions for customers on grandfathered unlimited plans in an effort to encourage users to switch to pay-by-usage tiered data plans, but the FCC has intervened in Verizon’s case due to Verizon’s use of Upper C Block spectrum that is subjected to a open platform rule.
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Accessory of the Day: HTC M8 Dot View Case (43% OFF)
Looking to protect that beautiful new HTC One M8 you recently picked up? Why not wrap that sweet little thing in the official Dot View Case? Not only does it cover the front and backside of your handset it also allows for some handy functionality as well. Indeed, you can get some quick at-a-glance information… Read more »
The post Accessory of the Day: HTC M8 Dot View Case (43% OFF) appeared first on AndroidGuys.
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AT&T announces LG G Pad 7.0 LTE for August 8
AT&T on Monday announced the upcoming availability of the LG G Pad 7.0 LTE tablet. Arriving later this week on August 8, the 7-inch tablet runs Android 4.4 KitKat and features an HD+ IPS display, a 5-megapixel ear camera, and 4000mAh battery. Like other devices from the LG camp, this one comes with custom software… Read more »
The post AT&T announces LG G Pad 7.0 LTE for August 8 appeared first on AndroidGuys.
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Kogan’s £150 4G Agora Android smartphone now available in the UK
Australian manufacturer Kogan has just launched a 4G version of its 5-inch Kogan Agora mobile phone having teamed up with Benq. The Kogan Agora runs KitKat 4.4.2 and has a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and an 8-Megapixel rear camera, with a 1.3-Megapixel front camera. It also features a microSD card so you can expand the 8GB… Read more »
The post Kogan’s £150 4G Agora Android smartphone now available in the UK appeared first on AndroidGuys.
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Select Samsung devices can access exclusive content with The Hunger Games Movie Pack
If you are an owner of a Samsung Galaxy device, and you’re also a fan of The Hunger Games movie and book series, then you will love Samsung’s and Lionsgate’s new app. As some of you know, owners of the Galaxy Tab S, Galaxy Note Pro, Galaxy Tab Pro, Galaxy Note 3, and the Galaxy… Read more »
The post Select Samsung devices can access exclusive content with The Hunger Games Movie Pack appeared first on AndroidGuys.
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Visual microphone can pick up speech from a bag of potato chips
You may want to be careful about the conversations you hold in the future; if you’re near a window, someone might be listening in. A team of researchers from Adobe, Microsoft and MIT have developed a visual microphone algorithm that picks up audio by looking for microscopic vibrations in video footage. The technique exploits the rolling shutter effect in digital cameras (where the sensor reads pixels one row at a time) to detect sound-related movements that might otherwise be invisible; the only gear you need is a camera that can record at high frame rates. It’s good enough to capture singing from a bag of potato chips, and musical tones from a potted plant.
Don’t worry about optical eavesdropping just yet. The experiment only got accurate reproduction with specialized cameras that shoot at up to 6,000 frames per second; an off-the-shelf device with 60fps recording can identify people’s voices, but it’s hard to make out words. Provided the technology reaches fruition, it would most likely be used by investigators that want to hear what suspects say when they’re not on the phone. It would be useful for more than surveillance, too, as team member Abe Davis believes the visual mic could identify a material’s properties without making contact. It’s definitely clever tech — let’s just hope that it’s used more for science than snooping.
Filed under: Cameras, Science, Microsoft
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AIVAnet 