GIV Mobile: The most charitable cell carrier in the country
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The United States has many cell phone carriers, most of which you might not be familiar of. One of the more honorable carriers I’ve gotten the chance to know is GIV Mobile, the carrier that donates 8% of your monthly plan to charity.
GIV Mobile is a new type of cell phone service created by its parent company, PTEL, one of the oldest cell carriers in the US. Their network reaches 96% of Americans by using T-Mobile and AT&T towers to provide very fast 4G LTE service to its customers. Some may think that a company donating a portion of a customer’s monthly rate will simply charge more on the monthly rate, however with GIV, cell plans are extremely affordable.
GIV Mobile is a no-contract service, meaning you can pay as you go and you won’t be trapped in a one year or two year agreement like many other carriers. Their plans include unlimited talk, text, and data and start as low as $20/month.
$20/month will you get unlimited talk and text, as well as 250 MB of data. $25/month will get you unlimited talk, text, and data at 2G speeds which they state is good for light users. Their “casual user” plan is where it gets very nice. At $35/month, you get unlimited talk, text, and 4G LTE data at 1 GB high speed. For higher speeds, GIV also provides a $40/month and $60/month plans. These prices are much lower than many competing carriers, and you get the warm feeling of the carrier donating 8% of every months payments to charities such as American Forests, Alzheimer’s Associations, Scholarship America, and more.
GIV Mobile sells phones through its website, however any phone using a GSM antenna is capable of using GIV’s services (Nexus phones, unlocked phones, etc.). I was able to test GIV Mobile’s service using a Blue Advance 4.0 handset, and was quite pleased with the coverage and speeds I was getting.
Using an unlocked Motorola Moto G 2014 with AT&T coverage to compare, GIV Mobile was outperforming AT&T speeds.
Using Speedtest.net from Ookla on the Google Play Store, I ran a few tests between the Blue Advance 4.0 with GIV Mobile’s coverage and the Moto G with AT&T. The first test I used T-Mobile’s server in Orlando, Florida on the Blu phone, and on the Moto G I used AT&T’s server in Indianapolis, Indiana. I conducted these tests in Athens, Ohio, so I expected AT&T’s closer server to work better, even though AT&T’s coverage in rural areas is lackluster. The speed test resulted in GIV Mobile returning a 91 ping score, with an 8.87 mbps download speed and 2.41 upload speed, and AT&T’s service returning an 85 ping score with a pretty bad 2.52 mbps and 1.75 mbps upload speed. Winner: GIV Mobile.
I ran two more similar tests, letting Ookla’s Speedtest automatically select the server based on best speeds. GIV Mobile won the second round again with a ping score of 88 ms with 6.88 mbps download and 2.14 upload. One final test resulted in GIV Mobile delivering faster seeds once again with 7.8 mbps and 2.41 mbps upload ant AT&T delivering 5.44 mbps download speeds and 1.62 upload.
These tests were only in Athens, Ohio however, so nationwide performance of GIV Mobile’s network is still uncertain to me. From what I’ve experienced though, GIV Mobile is a service every single person should at least take a look at. The charitable carrier offers highly competitive prices and is one of the few carriers that still offers unlimited data, and they deliver speeds comparable to AT&T and T-Mobile. If you are a light user who doesn’t use much data but likes to talk and text a lot, I recommend giving GIV Mobile a shot. If you are a casual user who uses a fair amount of data, texting and calling, I also recommend giving GIV Mobile a shot. If you are a heavy user who uses a lot of data, texting and calling, I am still recommending you take a look at what GIV Mobile offers.
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Google announces a live event for April 22nd; Focuses on Chrome and Chrome based products
Google has announced an event that will take place Wednesday, April 22nd. The event is going to have a focus on Chrome and other Chrome products such as the Chromebooks. Registration for the event is open and you can go ahead and do that if you wish to via the source link below.
“Chrome browser. Chromebooks. Chromeboxes. Chrome has evolved to offer secure, customizable, and easily manageable devices and apps for today’s business. Join us to learn how web-based solutions can help maximize your company’s productivity.”
source: Chrome Live
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Snapseed version 2.0 update brings a revamped interface, new effects and much more
Snapseed, one of the more intuitive and powerful photo editing apps in Google Play, has just received a big update to version 2.0. The update, which is now live in the Play Store, has received multiple new effects, tools, filter options and non-destructive editing.
First up on the list is the redesigned interface. The way in which you edit a photo hasn’t changed, but mostly everything else has. Tapping the floating action button on the bottom right will pull up a big list of available tools and filters to choose from. Lens Blur, Tonal Contrast, intelligent perspective Transform and Spot Healing have all been added to the tools menu, which should all be welcome additions to fans of the app.
Snapseed now supports non-destructive editing, so you can re-edit or undo any change you’re unhappy with. You can also copy edits from one image to another, which makes editing multiple photos at once much easier.
The update to version 2.0 is now live in the Play Store, and you can check for the new version by following the link below. If it’s been awhile since you’ve used the app, now may be a good time to try it again. Don’t want to wait for the update? Head here to download the apk.
SpaceX’s 4K rocket footage is a great excuse for an upgrade
Not sure if you need a new high-res display? The 4K footage SpaceX just posted of its rocket launches might be enough to push any reasonable person over the line. It’s on YouTube, predictably, and even if your connection or hardware is merely HD-ready it’s still an incredible experience. It’s embedded after the break — press play, expand to full screen and enjoy.
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/gmJgW-yMAIg?rel=0
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Science, HD
Source: SpaceX (YouTube)
How to use iCloud’s Family Sharing with Photos for OS X
You can’t sync your entire iCloud Photo Library with your family, but you can still share images with them.
While iCloud Photo Library supports syncing your photos, videos, and albums across your own personal devices, it doesn’t offer an option to sync everything to a family member’s device: After all, do you really want to share every photo or video you’ve ever taken with your family? Probably not.
As such, if you have Family Sharing enabled, you’ll still have your own Photos library. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still share images with each other easily. Here are three options I’ve been using to keep my family in the loop.
Use Family Sharing’s Family album
If you have iCloud’s Family Sharing option enabled along with iCloud Photo Sharing, you’ll see a special album called “Family” in the Shared tab of the Photos for OS X app, as well as the Shared section of the Photos app on iPhone and iPad. This album will automatically sync with all members within your Family Sharing group.
To add photos to the shared stream, select them and click the Share button. From there, choose iCloud Photo Library, and select the Family album. The images will then sync over to your family member’s device.
If you want to add your family’s images from this shared stream to your Photos library, you’ll first need to turn on the sidebar in Photos by going to View > Show Sidebar from the menu bar. Then navigate to your shared stream and select the photos you wish to import, and drag them to the Photos entry in the sidebar. Once you do, they’ll copy over to your Photos library and sync with iCloud Photo Library, if you have it enabled.
Use iCloud Photo Sharing to share images with your family
If you don’t have Family Sharing enabled, you can still use iCloud Photo Sharing to send certain images to your family, while keeping the ones you don’t confined to your own iCloud account. Here’s a quick primer on setting up Sharing and an album for your family and close friends.
- Make sure you have Photo Sharing turned on. To do so, visit Photos > Preferences > iCloud from the menu bar and click the checkbox next to iCloud Photo Sharing. You don’t technically even need iCloud enabled to use this feature — it’ll work even if iCloud Photo Library isn’t turned on.
- Navigate to the Shared tab and press the plus button in the toolbar. You’ll be asked to name your shared album, invite other iCloud members, and add a comment about the album. A word to the wise: You can invite (or disinvite) more people at any time, but once you name an album, you name it for good — so choose something timeless!
- Click Create to start sharing photos with your family members. You can add images at any time from your library by selecting them and clicking the Share button, choosing iCloud Photo Library, and selecting the album you want them to go to.
- The images will then sync over to your family member’s device. They can add images themselves at any point by following the same instructions outlined in step three.
If you want to add images from your shared stream into your Photos library, here’s how.
- Turn on the sidebar in Photos by going to View > Show Sidebar from the menu bar.
- Navigate to your shared stream and select the photos you wish to import.
- Drag the selected photos to the Photos entry in the sidebar. They’ll then copy over to your Photos library and sync with iCloud Photo Library, if you have it enabled.
Share an iCloud ID
This method is far less common in the age of Family Sharing for iTunes and the like, but on the off-chance that you still use a single ID for your purchases, you can unify your libraries by signing into iCloud on each device you want to share photos with, then turning on iCloud Photo Library.
Be advised, however, that doing so will share every photo taken or uploaded from each device — you’ll have no way to curate what you want (or don’t want) to share.
NHL 15 is the 10th game for EA Access members to play on the Xbox One
Electronic Arts has added its pro hockey game NHL 15 to the number of games EA Access members can play for as much as they want on the Xbox One console. NHL 15 becomes the 10th game available in the EA Access Vault.
Here are all of the new features you’ll find in CyanogenMod 12/12.1
As you may have heard, CyanogenMod is working hard on bringing CM 12.1 to devices in the near future. The development team already has the ROM working on a select number of devices with a few bugs, but it should be ready for nightly release soon. CyanogenMod has just outlined all of the new features that will be available with the newest release. Let’s take a look at some of the notable changes.
For starters, CyanogenMod’s Trebuchet launcher can now toggle between the normal page layout in the application drawer and a new vertical layout, which incorporates a ‘quick scrubber’ to help you find your app much more quickly. To tinker with the new setting, long-press on the Trebuchet launcher and slide the panel up to get more information.
The Settings menu is getting a few improvements to help you find the setting you’re looking for. The CM team has re-added the top level on/off switches to Wireless settings (WiFi, BT, etc), which eliminates one click to toggle the setting. Here are a few more details straight from CyanogenMod:
Next, we sacrificed the length of the Settings dashboard (the main view you see when you open settings) for elevating features out of submenus – providing new more discrete groups, even separating Notification Management from features that affect the Notification Drawer (similarly for Security and Lock screen settings).
Next up is a new feature called LiveDisplay, CM’s new goto method for calibrating your smartphone’s display. Incorporating the popular CM 7 feature RenderFX and older features like sunrise enhancement, LiveDisplay will be able to adjust color temperature, automate effective times, screen color, color calibration and help with power consumption.
Last but not least, CM has added in an Ambient Display feature, similar to what we’ve seen on the Moto X family of devices. Obviously this feature will be dependent on the smartphone’s hardware, but it will allow compatible devices to show notifications that ‘breathe’ on the screen with minimal power consumption. CM explains:
Coupled with double-tap to wake and lift to wake capabilities, 12/12.1 now makes it even easier to digest your content at-a-glance, and decide if notifications are worth your time.
CyanogenMod comments that CM 12 is nearing its proper release, scheduled to go live sometime this month. After CM 12 has been fully released, modders can look forward to the non-nightly release of CM 12.1. There are a few more details in this announcement, so if you’re interested in learning more, I’d urge you to head to the source link below for more information.
Jawbone UP3 to Begin Shipping on April 20 With Lower Water Resistance Capabilities [iOS Blog]
Jawbone announced the newest iteration in its line of wrist-worn UP fitness trackers back in November, but it’s taken several months for the new devices to be ready to ship, likely because of all the new sensor additions.
The company began taking pre-orders several months ago and customers who purchased the devices have been waiting patiently for news on a ship date, which Jawbone delivered today. According to a blog post on the company’s site, the UP3 will begin shipping out to customers in the United States on April 20.
Pre-orders will ship in the order that they were received, and based on the number of orders, Jawbone expects all pre-order customers to receive their UP3 bands no later than mid-May.
According to Jawbone, the UP3 includes several new sensors that give it more advanced health and fitness tracking capabilities. It has a new tri-axis accelerometer, skin and ambient temperature sensors, and “bioimpedance” sensors that let the UP3 analyze a wide range of biometric data, including resting heart rate. It can track detailed sleep stages, distinguishing between REM sleep, light sleep, and deep sleep, and it can distinguish between different workout activities.
Today’s blog post also includes an apology to customers, explaining that orders were delayed due to quality control issues with water resistance. The company hoped to offer water resistance up to 10 meters, but is unable to do so, making it unsuitable for use while swimming or under water. Customers who want to cancel their pre-orders can do so.
Our intention was to ship an advanced multi-sensor product that defied industry standards with water resistance of up to 10 meters. Unfortunately, after extensive and exhaustive testing we have been unable to guarantee 10 meters of water resistance for all UP3 units.
UP3 will now ship with a water resistance comparable to, and in line with, most other multi-sensor trackers. This means that UP3 is resistant to everyday splashing, including while washing hands or in the shower, but it is unsuitable for swimming or submerged use. We would like to apologize to customers who may have pre-ordered UP3 on the basis that it would be suitable for swimming. Customers who wish to cancel their pre-order will, of course, be able to do so with no charge.
The UP3 is available for pre-order for $179.99 from the Jawbone website. Orders placed today will ship out after pre-orders have been sent, arriving towards the end of May.
Google believed to be inching closer towards making Android Wear iPhone compatible
We’ve heard numerous reports of Google wanting to make Android Wear compatible with iOS devices as well. This makes more sense now with the Apple Watch all set to go on sale. A new report now suggests that Google is even closer to bringing this idea to fruition.
As the screenshot above shows, Google seems to have already worked on bringing support for native apps like FaceTime and should most likely support other apps like Messages, Mail etc. Since Google’s own apps (Gmail, Maps etc) are available on the iPhone, it should be easier to integrate them with Android Wear.
It is unclear if Google will be able to bring music player controls with Android Wear for iPhone. But knowing that Pebble has already achieved this with its smartwatch, it doesn’t seem impossible.
Google has declined to comment on the matter saying that it has no announcements to make at this time, which is the type of response you’d expect from a company which doesn’t want to give away a secret.
Apple has some strict policies in place which could block the release of the Android Wear app into the iTunes App Store. So we might be jumping to conclusions a little early here.
Would you like to see Android Wear support make its way to iOS? Sound off below.
Via: The Verge
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Angry Birds Go gets a new Party Mode feature
Rovio’s addictive Angry Birds Go has now received a new update which brings forth a Party Mode feature, allowing multiple users to connect and play the game together. This can be done between two devices that are connected to the same WiFi network.
This takes multiplayer gaming to a different level as two users will be able to compete against each other while being in the same room.
“In trying to make friendly multiplayer happen in our games, there was no question that Angry Birds Go! would be the perfect fit. Anyone who played console games as a child remembers the excitement when playing with a group of friends. This is our goal with Angry Birds Go!” said Wilhelm Taht, Head of External Products at Rovio.
Click here to view the embedded video.
The update should be live on the Google Play Store anytime now, so make sure you keep an eye out for the new Angry Birds Go.
Source: Rovio
Come comment on this article: Angry Birds Go gets a new Party Mode feature
AIVAnet 