Whether we’re talking about existing products like Apple’s infortainment intermediating CarPlay, or rumored products like a full on Apple Car, they’ll be competing for attention and usage with other software companies like Google and Android Auto, and with manufacturers and their own in-car offerings. Apple’s usual strategy is to fight on the experience level — to make a product that solves real problems and engenders real delight. Could that same strategy win inside the car, or inside the car industry? Sam Abuelsamid:

It’s all about the total user experience and overall Apple has executed that better than anyone else in the markets in which they have chosen to compete. They aren’t perfect by any means, but they have an amazing track record.

So we have an industry where user experience is critically important but the incumbent players have done a decidedly haphazard job of executing. On the other hand, we have a company that believes that executing on user experience is an absolute necessity to maximizing profitability.

Now Apple wants to enter this entirely new field of endeavor at the same time that the market is changing in a way that may well make its entire user experience-centered model, utterly irrelevant.

Sam worries, rightly, that cars-as-a-service — and their ride-share apps on our screens — will commoditize the industry to the point where Apple will see little to no value in entering it. What place is there for Apple in world of ubiquitous, potentially autonomous Uber- and Zipcar-like services?

Right now, at least, Apple seems to be gearing up for a future where their customers enjoy the best experience regardless of who owns — or rents — the screen.

Like the G3 before it, there are a couple of ways to capture what’s on the G Flex 2’s curvy screen

Like the majority of Android handsets, taking a screenshot on the LG G Flex 2 is a simple enough affair. It’s just a matter of knowing the right button combinations and menu items. Then — boom — your screen’s image is saved for posterity in the related folder within the Gallery app.

What’s more, there’s also a secondary way to grab a screenshot and annotate it, using the built-in QMemo+ application. Let’s take a look at both after the break.

If you bought a Lenovo computer recently, chances are it may have come with factory-installed adware. The world’s largest PC manufacturer was found to install an adware called Superfish — which injects third-party ads on Google search results and other websites — on new machines.

SHAREit is a file sharing app for Windows Phone that has just been bumped to version 1.4. This latest release introduces some handy features for those who wish to quickly share files between devices, but don’t have an active cellular or Wi-Fi connection. It’s now possible to share files over a hotspot created by a Windows Phone.

Asus announced the next-generation Zenfone 2 — one of the first devices to boast 4GB RAM — at CES earlier this year, and now the device is up for pre-order in Chinese retailer Alibaba’s marketplace AliExpress. There are two variants of the device available for choosing: a version with 2GB RAM that is priced at $299, and the 4GB model, which is on pre-order for $439.

The Oppo R5 — one of the thinnest smartphones available today — will be available in a limited edition golden-trim in India from February 20 for Rs. 29,990 ($482). The standard variant of the device has been on sale in India for some time now, and joins the likes of Gionee’s Elife S5.1 and Vivo X5 Max in the country.

Google has released its Inbox app for iPad. The invite-only email client for tablets is already available for Android, promising to provide a new way for consumers to interact with incoming mail. It’s not for everyone, but should you be on the hunt for a new client on iOS, the new Google Inbox may be worth checking out.

The app listing itself isn’t new (since it’s already out for iPhone), but the company has bumped it to version 1.2, offering an optimized interface for iPad users. It’s an interesting way to use email for sure, having Google sort through email and prioritize messages the service feels are more important to you.

• Free – Download Now

Via: TechCrunch

Windows PC owners are used to downloading an inordinate amount of free — and sometimes suspect — software from the web. One of our readers, and new Mac owner, B.N., writes in to ask if it’s possible to do the same thing on OS X.

I’ve just bought my first Mac after using a PC for years. It’s a fresh out of the box MacBook Air running OS X Yosemite. My old PC was equipped with LibreOffice, a free and open source office suite developed by The Document Foundation. I found LibreOffice for the Mac, but when I try to install it I get an error message that says the identity of the developer cannot be confirmed. This is as bad as the iPhone. Why won’t Apple just let me run the software I need?

LibreOffice runs just fine on the Mac, but you may not even need it. New Macs include Apple’s iWork suite of applications: Pages, Numbers and Keynote.

With word processing, spreadsheet and presentation capabilities, iWork provides similar functionality to some modules in LibreOffice. There are similar apps included in Microsoft Office, which costs money, or OpenOffice, another free software package available for download. Mac iWork apps sync with iCloud and sport identical functionality on iOS. But if you don’t want to work with iWork apps, you don’t have to.

You’re running into a problem because Apple has employed safeguards to keep you from running malicious software accidentally: LibreOffice won’t open because of the Mac’s current Security & Privacy settings, which you control.

Apple will let you run the software you need. You just need to tweak the Mac’s security settings. I downloaded LibreOffice from its web site, and when I opened it I got this error message:

Mac app security settings should only be changed if you absolutely know and trust the software you’ve downloaded. I verified that I got LibreOffice from its official web site, so I trust that this app is legitimate.

Only ever override these settings if you know and trust the software you’ve downloaded.

Notice at the bottom of the Security & Privacy system preference that there’s an option to run software from anywhere. If you consider yourself a power user, you can change this setting by clicking the lock icon in the lower left hand corner. I’d use this with extreme caution, but you know your skill level best, so decide if it’s worth the potential risk.

To override Mac app security settings

1. Click on the  menu.
2. Select System Preferences.
3. Click on Security & Privacy.
4. Make sure the General tab is selected.
5. Click on Open Anyway.
6. Enter your administrator password and click Unlock.

Go ahead and launch LibreOffice. It should open now.

Any trouble? Let me know.