Opera Mini for iOS Updated with ‘Video Boost’ Feature, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Report [iOS Blog]
Web browser Opera Mini today received an update to version 9, bringing support for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in addition to a number of new features. Most notably, Opera Mini now includes a “Video Boost” setting which promises to cut down on buffering times while conserving mobile data. The app also now features extended Speed Dial functionality for saving bookmarks, and supports the larger displays of the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus.
So, what exactly happens to the video data when it is optimized? When you select a video to watch, our servers take a quick peek at the video’s resolution and quality. Video data that’s too big is shrunk before it lands on your phone, lessening buffering time. All this happens in the blink of an eye.
Opera Mini launched in 2011 as one of the first third-party alternatives to Apple’s iOS version of Safari and reached a million downloads in its first few days of availability. Since then, the app has seen a number of significant updates which have brought speed improvements, better mobile data optimization, and Speed Dial functionality.
Opera Mini is a free app for iOS devices and can be downloaded through the App Store. [Direct Link]
Root your Nexus 9 using the Chainfire method
You want root on your Nexus 9, you got it ! Well known XDA developer and Android modder Chainfire has been up to his old tricks again, this time he’s managed to root Google’s shiny new tablet faster than most users got it shipped.
A blog post over at Allthingroot.com details the steps to root the Nexus 9 and also mentions a new SuperSU binary that is purpose-built for the 64bit device, they also link to the XDA Nexus 9 rooting thread so you can get a heads up before taking the plunge.
Will you root your Nexus 9 ? let us know how you get on in the comments below.
The post Root your Nexus 9 using the Chainfire method appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Chrome extension encrypts your emails, tweets and status updates
A new breed of relatively easy-to-use encryption and security services like Silent Circle have started popping up ever since Snowden made his revelations last year. One of the newest additions to that growing list is a Chrome browser extension called ShadowCrypt, which encrypts emails, Facebook status updates, tweets and other messages you send and post on social media. Once you’ve installed it, you’ll need to generate an encryption key for every website you use or for every email you send. You’ll then have to give those keys to people you want to share your posts with (they also need to be ShadowCrypt users, of course), otherwise all they’ll see are garbled letter and number strings like the tweet below.
=?shadowcrypt-4ff95cef5a76149b687f7b54908cd2fa168794e214cedf9ee1a5df1dfec13057?fYtRaaL8maPP6ud0RldZhAEhO1KGy8pCqOMeSuVzldAwNpkBjQuery19100141260077945502_1415230599563=
– Tom Simonite (@tsimonite) November 4, 2014
While you can already find ShadowCrypt on the Chrome web store or install it from its official website, it’s still being researched further by its creators from the University of California Berkeley and the University of Maryland. One of those researchers is Devdatta Akhawe (currently a security engineer at Dropbox), who says the extension’s purpose is to show how encryption methods can both be strong and compatible with popular social media websites. Seeing as the EFF has just confirmed that Facebook, Whatsapp and other similar services aren’t as secure as we’d all like, it’s nice having options like ShadowCrypt for times when you want to be extra careful.
[Image credit: shutterstock]
Filed under: Misc
Google is bringing Chromecast to Mexico for 699 pesos
We’ve been enjoying Google’s HDMI dongle for awhile here in the US, and now the Chromecast is making its way south. That’s right: Mountain View’s streaming stick will soon be available in Mexico for 699 pesos (around $50) at Best Buy, Liverpool and Linea stores, as spotted by Android Central. The gizmo costs a bit more there than it does in the States but at least Mexico can finally try out one of our favorite features — beaming Google Play Music to a home theater system with a few taps on a smart device. If you have any playlist recommendations, leave ‘em in the comments below, yeah?
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals, HD, Mobile, Google
Via: Android Central
Source: Google+
John Lewis brings Monty the penguin to life with help from Microsoft and Google
Every year, high street retailer John Lewis taps into the hearts of millions of Brits with a new Christmas ad. This year is no different, after it unveiled a new £7 million marketing campaign, Monty’s Christmas, which centres on a little boy called Sam who wants to give his little penguin mate Monty the gift he has been dreaming of — a new penguin companion called Mabel. John Lewis’ festive campaigns tend to drive up its profits, and this year will likely be no different. However, to ensure this remains the case, the company is betting on technology to get mums and dads spending, with a little help from their children.
Tomorrow, the retailer will open Monty’s Magical Toy Machine in its flagship Oxford Street store in London. Children are invited to bring their favourite cuddly toy, allowing store employees to scan and render them in 3D for their (little) owners to interact and play with on a big screen. The Telegraph reports that John Lewis has teamed up with Microsoft to create the booth, which uses three DSLRs to photograph the toy (which is suspended in mid-air using wire clips) and snapped 17 times to generate a 3D representation.
Those images are then processed by an X1 custom built computer running Windows 8.1, which then displays a digital model of the toy on three 75-inch displays equipped with the latest Kinect sensors. Kids can see their toy wake up, wave and dance, keeping them amused before their parents drag them around the rest of the store.
Google also plays a small role in proceedings with “Monty’s Goggles.” John Lewis has taken the search giant’s inexpensive VR concept, Google Cardboard, and used it to create a 360-degree virtual world featuring Sam and Monty. Samsung’s in on the action too, sponsoring the “Monty’s Den” experiences in stores around the country and providing Galaxy Tab S’ for kids to create their own penguin-themed Christmas cards.
While the technology-themed exhibits are designed to get people in through the doors and make people part with their cash, John Lewis is also doing its bit for charity. A Monty’s Christmas children’s book narrated by Dermot O’Leary will go live on the App Store and Google Play today, with a percentage of the proceeds going to Barnardo’s children’s charity.
Filed under: Internet, Samsung, Microsoft, Google
Source: Monty’s Christmas
Apple Opening New Retail Store in Lille, France Saturday, November 15 [Mac Blog]
Apple today announced on its website (via ifoAppleStore) that it will be opening its store in Lille, France on Saturday, November 15. The store will be located on 1 Rue Faidherbe, which also hosts a number of other luxury retailers and outlets. The store itself will contain two levels and span 1400 square meters (15000 square feet) and wrap around the city block, offering a wide amount of space for both sales and services.
Apple put up its traditional black barrier around the store just last week, with the location marking Apple’s eighteenth store in France. The Apple Store Opéra in Paris has become known as one of the company’s most visually stunning locations, as Apple also has stores in Dijon, Lyon, and Nice.
Apple is expected to hand out commemorative T-shirts to the first 1,000 customers to visit. The Apple Store Lille opens at 10 A.M. on Saturday, November 15, and the location has begun accepting reservations for workshops and Genius bar appointments.
Download and install latest Google Play Store 5.0.38 APK (Material Design)
The Google Play Store was only just recently updated to bring more Material Design aspects to the app, and now we see the version updated bringing the Google Play Store to version 5.0.38.
What’s New
As you can tell by the minor version bump, Google Play Store 5.0.38 contains very few changes and focuses around bug fixes.
If like me you like to be on the cutting edge of developments, you can go ahead and grab the latest Google Play Store 5.0.38 APK from here.
Notice anything else different in the newest version of the Google Play Store? Drop us a comment below.
The post Download and install latest Google Play Store 5.0.38 APK (Material Design) appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Energica Eva is a ‘naked’ electric superbike for the street
If you liked the basic concept behind CRP Racing’s Energica electric superbike (now the Energica Ego) but wanted something that was more stripped down, you’ve just met your dream machine. The company has unveiled the Energica Eva, a “naked” streetfighter counterpart to the Ego. You’ll still find a high-powered 136HP motor (good for 149MPH) and a 95-mile battery (with a 3.5-hour full recharge), but much of the design has been pared down and shortened for urban riding. You’ll see more of that electric powerplant, while the handlebars, pegs and wheels should be more city-friendly. As for a launch date and price? CRP isn’t ready to hand those out yet, but it was previously aiming for a price between $25,000 to $28,000 — you’ll have to really want a fast, environmentally conscious two-wheeler for the Eva to make sense.
Filed under: Transportation
Source: Energica
EE TV now available for free to existing mobile and broadband customers
EE is ready to take on the living room. The UK’s largest mobile network is now offering its first TV set-top box, EE TV, for free to existing mobile customers with an EE Broadband plan. The black box is currently only available in EE stores and supports over 70 Freeview channels, as well as video streaming services such as BBC iPlayer, YouTube and Wuaki.tv. Up to four different devices (including your TV) can use the service simultaneously, letting other family members with a smartphone or tablet watch whatever they like in another room.
The EE TV set-top box is equipped with a 1TB hard drive and capable of recording up to 600 hours in standard definition. Four channels can be recorded simultaneously, although a neat ‘Replay’ feature means you can store everything from six channels over a 24-hour block. You will, however, need to sign-up for EE Broadband at £9.95 per month (plus £15.75 for line rental) to get your hands on the new set-top box. In short, EE wants you to subscribe to both its mobile and broadband packages, and is happy to give away EE TV to boost sign-ups. To sweeten the deal, the company will raise your EE mobile 4G data allowance to 10GB or 20GB (depending on your current contract) if you take up their offer. Not quite sold on the idea? Let us help. We’ll be putting EE TV through its paces in our upcoming review.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Household, Internet
Source: EE
Draftback finds the hidden history of your Google doc epics
A good story is a very special incarnation of magic, and if there’s one thing more interesting than seeing how it unfolds, it’s seeing how it was put together. Thankfully, a terribly neat new tool called Draftback — created by New York-based writer/programmer James Somers — sort of lets you do just that… as long as the story in question lives in a Google document.
You see, the secret to Draftback’s sorcery is that Google tracks every change you make to a document in incredibly minute detail – we’re talking on a character-by-character basis, and all that writing data doesn’t actually go anywhere. What Draftback does is it tallies up all those little changes and lumps them all into a single, interactive animation that shows off how your sentences shrink, your ideas swell, and your word choice grows more florid the later it gets. Think of it as an exercise in literary archeology.
No, really! Imagine your favorite writer, and visualize how well there arguments and suggestions and ideas flow together. Got it? The fruits of their talent are what ultimately wind up on the page, but all the agony and frustration that goes into each of those gems is lost to the sands of time. Until now, anyway. Just keep this in mind as you start playing around with it: Draftback is more a passion project than it is a polished product, don’t be surprised to stumble across a few hiccups. They’re not too numerous now (the neat analytical graphs that highlight when and where changes were made don’t seem to work), but its core seems to work as well as us word nerds would like. Well, for now.
Via: James Somers
Source: Draftback
AIVAnet 