Magzet magnetic jack wants to protect your audio gear
Magzet, an idea currently being pitched through Kickstarter, wants to replace the industry standard 3.5mm headphone jack used in our computers, phones and tablets with its new magnetic equivalent. Not only is it designed to make switching between devices a little more convenient, but could also help avoid a gadget calamity.
I’m sure many of you have given your headphone cable an accidental tug once or twice, and sent them or your phone clattering to the floor. This is partly the reason why headphone manufacturers are increasingly adding a connection at both ends of the cable. Magzet wants to go one better, by offering a quick and easy attach and detach solution using magnets.
The premise is elegant in its simplicity. A “MAGjack” slots into your device in the same way as the regular jack would, but sits there doing nothing until you connect up the “MAGkap” cable connection. Magnets hold the two parts together to make the connection, allowing for easy switching between devices and a quick break in case of a tug, without damaging the cable or your precious technology. As Magzet is compatible with existing sockets, all your usual Android voice call, skip track, and other features will still work as normal.
Furthermore, you can leave the MAGjack plugged in without causing your device to appear muted. Some patent pending technology means that devices don’t see the jack until the connection is completed.
The Kickstarter has a goal of $294,000, to pay for miniaturization, components and to ramp up manufacturing to bring the product to market. Early backers can grab themselves various Magzet packages, starting at $20 and ending at $90, which might be a bit pricey for what is essentially a cable. If all goes well, the final, miniaturized device is scheduled to ship out before the end of the year.
T-Mobile adds more choices to Music Freedom service
T-Mobile’s Music Freedom service might just be their most underrated Un-Carrier offer. It allows you to stream from participating music apps without penalizing your data. I can’t tell you how valuable that is if you drive around a lot.
They already have a slew of popular apps that are part of the service, but they keep adding more. They might be less obscure, but the bottom line is that T-Mobile is giving everyone an option. They have just added Tidal Music, BandCamp and MixCloud bringing the total to 31 streaming apps.
Hit the break for the complete list and don’t forget to enjoy some new music today.
- Pandora
- iHeart
- Spotify
- Slacker
- Google Play Music
- iTunes Radio (iTunes Match and iTunes song previews NOT included)
- Rhapsody
- SoundCloud
- RadioTunes
- Digitally Imported
- Fit Radio
- Samsung Milk
- AccuRadio
- BlackPlanet Radio
- Grooveshark
- Rdio
- Radio Paradise
- Songza
- SiriusXM
- Mad Genius Radio
- radioPup
- Xbox Music
- Fresca Radio
- JAZZRADIO
- Live365
- Radio.com
- ROCKRADIO
- Saavn
- Tidal Music
- BandCamp
- MixCloud
source: TMONews
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Route Tracking and Screen Mirroring Shown in New Apple Patent [iOS Blog]
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today released a patent application filed by Apple back in January of 2013, describing a method by which an iPhone or iPad can provide specifically detailed GPS path information to another device after given proper authorization (via AppleInsider).
In the vein of Find My Friends, which allows rudimentary static location-based tracking services and slightly more in-depth parental controls, today’s patent application would add another level of detail to the service. The patent suggests providing location- and path-based information accumulated by one device in the visual form of a digital route on a second device following the first.
Because the device receiving the information would be constantly updated with the first device’s movements, it would allow users to follow someone in real time. The patent even mentions the receiving device could generate “spoken word directions”, so if a user is driving a car, they wouldn’t have to constantly be staring at the phone’s screen.
A device in motion can record data about the path it travels and send the path data to another device. A user of the second device can then use the data to see where the first user traveled and/or travel the same path as did the first user.
For example, while the first user is driving a car, she could be running a maps application on the first device, and share the path she is travelling with the user of the second device while the second user is also driving a car. The second device could then display the path in an instance of the maps application running on the second device, or the second device could display directions the second user could use to follow the first user, or the second device could generate spoken word directions the second user could use to follow the first user, all in real time.
The patent mentions that while the program would be able to run on “a mobile communications network (e.g., 3G, LTE, WiMAX, etc.), a wireless LAN (e.g., 802.11), or another kind of wireless network”, sometimes an intermediary, like iCloud, may be used as well. There’s even a mode that could ignore the path sharing altogether, allowing the first device to share directions to a specific location to the second device, automatically generating a route that may be quicker than following the first device.
Also of note is a “mirroring mode” that shows “exactly the same view” on the second device as the user on the first device is seeing and interacting with, aiming to further assist the second device’s understanding of the route.
As AppleInsider notes, the patent credits Eran Sandel, Elad Harush, and Roman Guy as its inventors. As with all other patents, today’s “Sharing location information among devices” application is less of a confirmation of upcoming software by Apple and more of an intriguing look at ways the company may be looking to expand its little-used map-based features in the future.
Google’s new feature keeps your phone awake until you put it down
Don’t you get annoyed when you are reading something on the internet and your Android phone decides to sleep on you. Well, fret not as Google has quietly introduced on-body detection feature to Android devices running Lollipop. As the name suggests, this cool feature will keep your phone awake when you are holding it – saving you the the trouble of having to unlock your phone a zillion times a day.
In the recent past, we have seen many high-end smartphones – such as the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge – using a fingerprint scanner to provide a secure and convenient screen unlocking experience. But the on-body unlocking feature doesn’t even require dedicated hardware for it.
Using your accelerometer, the on-body feature figures out when your device is in use or not and locks the screen accordingly. It is definitely a blessing for those who don’t want to unlock their phones multiple times while on the go without compromising on security. Some people are also used to keeping their default screen timeout quite short for saving power and they will definitely love it.
However, if you are thinking of enabling the on-body feature, it doesn’t come without risks. Its biggest downside is the fact that it cannot detect whether the phone is being used by you or someone else. So imagine if someone snatches it away from you while you are using it. He will be able to access your personal data as the phone will not lock the screen itself. But if you can overlook this minor glitch, the on-body feature makes your smartphone experience quite easy and hassle-free.
Source: engadget
The post Google’s new feature keeps your phone awake until you put it down appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Pioneer’s NEX Apple CarPlay units get a firmware update with various fixes
Update over USB or SD card for the latest firmware from Pioneer for its connected head units
A quick heads up if you’re already rocking one of Pioneer’s new NEX head units that run Apple’s CarPlay or Android Auto — a firmware update is now available for the 4100, 5100 and 8100 models.
The changelog notes a fix for a popping sound when playing music from an SD card. And, of course, various other bugfixes. Nothing major here, but it’s always great to see a firmware update released.
Be sure to read the update instructions, and make sure you get the right file version for your head unit. And a quick note, the SD card you’re using to update the device has to be formatted as FAT32.
Download: Firmware update for Pioneer NEX head units
More in our Apple CarPlay forums
Thanks, Insp_Gadget!
There’s now a super-speed PCIe SSD you can actually buy
Samsung has taken a commanding lead in next-gen SSDs that blow away old-school models, but it finally has some competition. Kingston’s HyperX Predator PCIe SSD is now available with read speeds touching 1.4GB/s. That’s still a far cry from Samsung’s latest SM951 SSD, which reads at a ridiculous 2.2GB/s. But unlike Samsung’s OEM-only model, you can actually purchase the Predator PCIe and jam it into your own PC build or laptop. You’ll need an M.2 SSD slot to do so (preferably with four PCIe lanes), but if that’s missing, Kingston will supply a PCIe slot adapter for an extra ten bucks or so.
Write speeds run at 1GB/s, and random read/write IOPS are a scorching 130,000/118,000 random. For that, your wallet will also get scorched: it’s around $460 for the 480GB model ($230 for 240GB), or nearly double a regular HyperX 480GB SATA III drive. But that matches the price of Samsung’s similar XP941 model, and prices will likely fall quickly now that there’s some competition. Anyway, the performance is also more than double, and you can’t put a price on bragging rights.
Filed under: Storage
Via: Tom’s Hardware
Source: Kingston
Amazon Fire TV Stick heading to Europe on April 15th for £35/€35
Amazon’s Fire TV Stick, the company’s own take on the popular Chromecast formula, will be landing in the UK and Germany on April 15th with a very reasonable £35/€35 price tag.
The little dongle is already available to pre-order if you’re an Amazon Prime member. New members can grab the Fire TV Stick for just £7/€7, after a refund, if they purchase before March 26th and existing Prime members can pre-order one for £19/€19, which is still a good deal. For comparison, the Google Chromecast costs £30 from the Play Store.
As for why you might want to choose an Amazon Fire TV Stick over a Chromecast? For a start, there’s superior hardware specifications, with 4 times in the internal memory (8GB vs 2GB), twice the RAM (1GB vs 512MB) and a dual-core processor. Amazon has also made a fuss about its Dolby Digital Plus surround sound for superior audio and a dual-band dual-antenna WiFi configuration for a more consistent, smoother streaming experience. The TV Stick also comes with its own remote control, giving you control over the system without the need for your smartphone.
Amazon’s dongle also has access to the company’s extensive media library, Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Youtube and region specific services, such as BBC iPlayer and News, Demand 5, and Sky News for the UK, or Tagesschau and ARD in Germany. The only major downside is the lack of access to your existing Google Play media library, if you have one.
This launch could pave the way for a roll-out in other European countries too.
Adobe’s Fill & Sign app allows you to fill and sign any form on your smartphone
A paperless office is something that most of us can only dream about, no matter how many steps closer we get to that impossible dream there is always a pile of paper on the desk that threatens the Amazon rainforest. With that in mind, Adobe has handily provided us with another tool to help wean us off paper called the Fill & Sign app.
Adobe’s Fill & Sign application allows us to complete forms on our smartphones and tablets without having to resort to printing documents out to fill out by hand. Instead, we can type in the information via our devices and send it off electronically. You can even use your smartphone camera to snap a picture of a paper document and the Sign & Fill app will do the rest, cropping and sharpening up the image to be filled & signed.
Features:
- Scan paper forms with camera or open a file from an email
- Tap to enter text or checkmarks on form fields
- Fill forms faster with reusable text from your autofill collection
- Easily create your signature with your finger or stylus
- Apply your signature or initials to documents
- Save forms and send to others via email
- Export completed forms and store in the cloud
It promises to be a very useful application, how many times have you received a document via email on your phone and had to print it out so you could fill it in correctly? And then had to scan it back on to the computer so you could email it back to the sender?
You can install the Fill & Sign app on your device simply by scanning the QR code or clicking the Play Store link below. I have noticed that the app is incompatible with my Galaxy Tab 8.4 LTE, so let us know in the comments below if you have any other incompatibility problems when installing Adobe’s Fill & Sign app.
Come comment on this article: Adobe’s Fill & Sign app allows you to fill and sign any form on your smartphone
Italian Regulators Conclude Corporate Tax Investigation Against Apple
Italian regulators have completed an investigation into allegations that Apple failed to pay €879 million ($964 million) in corporate taxes, according to Reuters. The report claims that, under Italian law, prosecutors can now ask a judge to bring the case to trial. Apple claims that it has paid all necessary taxes in countries that it operates and remains confident that the case will be resolved.
Apple’s flagship Via Roma retail store in Torino, Italy
The investigations accuse Apple of booking profits generated in Italy through an Irish subsidiary in an effort to lower its taxable income base and save nearly €900 million from 2008 through 2013. Apple argues that it’s “one of the largest tax payers in the world and paid every euro of tax it owed wherever it did business,” and remains confident that the allegations are without merit and will be resolved.
It said the Italian tax authorities had audited Apple’s Italian operations in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and confirmed it was in full compliance with the OECD documentation and transparency requirements.
“These new allegations against our employees are completely without merit and we’re confident this process will reach the same conclusion,” it said.
Apple is one of several multinational tech companies, including Amazon and Google, that have faced corporate tax investigations in the United States and Europe. The U.S. Senate accused Apple of avoiding billions in income taxes in May 2013, while the European Union accused the company of receiving illegal state aid from Ireland after completing a formal investigation into its questionable tax practices in the country.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Glozzle – a mind blowing 3D puzzle game for Windows and Windows Phone
If you are tired of the run of the mill puzzle games, take a gander at the Windows Phone game Glozzle. What sets this puzzle game apart from the field is that it is presented in 3D fashion with pieces floating around as if the puzzle exploded. You spin the elements around in multiple directions so they line up just right, solving the puzzle. It may surprise you what the scattered puzzle pieces will transform into.
Available for low-memory Windows Phones and Windows 8 devices, Glozzle makes a nice first impression and with over 3,000 level the game has plenty of staying power. We took the Windows Phone version out for a test drive and while many may be over saturated with puzzle games, Glozzle is unique enough that it should spark some interest.
AIVAnet 