Police turn to pepper-spraying drones in congested Indian city
Drones are popping up everywhere. They’ve been largely unfamiliar in India, but that’s changing. The police department in Lucknow, a populous city in the country, is the first to purchase five weaponized drones that can spray pepper on a rioting mob. The concept of aerial robots isn’t entirely new to the city, as they’ve been used for surveillance and imagery during religious festivities in the past. But this new substance-carrying variety is a novelty. Each one costs about $9,600 and can carry a load of 4.4 pounds.
On one hand, pepper-spraying drones seem like a good investment for the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, a state that has a complex history of communal clashes. But, there are concerns that it could get incredibly complicated for drone operators to get a sense of the situation on the ground. While an officer on foot can easily discern miscreants from bystanders, drones could potentially target throngs of people with complete indifference to innocence. Despite potential drawbacks, they do give the police quick and easy access to situations that threaten public safety in a congested city like Lucknow, that is as popular for its kebabs as it’s dreaded for its traffic jams. Whether or not these drones prove to be appropriate for riot-like situations, their existence could scatter a crowd when necessary.
[Image credit: BOMBMAN/Flickr]
Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Robots
Source: Yahoo News
YouTube informs content creators of paid offering that will eliminate ads
The amount of money generated from advertisements is massive and keeps many companies and services afloat. However, consumers are not the biggest fans of ads and, in many cases, will gladly pay to not see them. YouTube has been cashing in on ads for years but will soon allow viewers to eliminate them.
A letter sent to YouTube content creators informs them that a paid offering is on the way. The paid offering will allow subscribers to not see a single ad while also saving videos for offline viewing. Pricing reportedly sits around $10 per month. There is even a possibility that the $10 price is lowered when a consumer chooses a category-specific subscription. It would make sense for parents taking advantage of YouTube Kids to opt for a subscription that focuses on children’s programming.
Content creators are being told that they can place videos behind a paywall. Even if a content creator does not want to be involved in the paid offering, they must accept the change in terms through the Creator Studio Dashboard. YouTube will switch any resisting channels to private.
YouTube collects around 45% of the advertising revenue generated by a channel while subscriptions will be pooled. Partners receive 55% of the total and individuals receive a different amount based on how much activity the channel sees.
Source: Bloomberg
Come comment on this article: YouTube informs content creators of paid offering that will eliminate ads
How to delete, recover, and eradicate pictures and videos in Photos for OS X
Photos for OS X lets you quickly and easily delete pictures and videos from both your Mac and the cloud.
Whether you’re trying to free up storage, battling duplicates, eliminating personal photos no one else ever needs to see, or just cutting out the bad shots, Photos for OS X makes it easy to delete single or multiple pictures or videos. If you’re using iCloud Photo Library, anything you delete on your Mac will also be deleted on all your other iCloud Photo Library-enabled devices, including your iPhone and/or iPad. Deleted pictures and videos can be recovered for up to 30 days, however, or can be deleted immediately and forever. Here’s how!
- How to delete pictures or videos in Photos for OS X
- How to delete an entire “moment” in Photos for OS X
- How to recover deleted pictures or videos in Photos for OS X
- How to permanently delete pictures or videos in Photos for OS X
How to delete pictures or videos in Photos for OS X
You can select one picture or video by clicking on it, a range of pictures or videos by clicking on the first when, then shift-clicking on the last one, or a number of arbitrary pictures or videos by command-clicking on each of them in turn.
- Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
- Select on the pictures or videos you want to delete
- Go to the Image > Delete Photo menu item. (You can also right-click, hit the delete key, or command + delete to skip the confirmation dialog.)
- Click Delete to confirm, if needed.
How to delete an entire “moment” in Photos for OS X
You can also delete some or all of the pictures or videos intelligently grouped by Photos into a “moment”.
- Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
- Click on the Photos tab in the top navigation.
- Go to the moment view and find the moment you want to delete.
- Click on the first photo in the moment view you’d like to delete to select it.
- Hold down the Shift key on your Mac’s keyboard and click on the last photo.
- Go to the Image > Delete Photo menu item. (You can also right-click, hit the delete key, or command + delete to skip the confirmation dialog.)
- Click Delete to confirm, if needed.
How to recover deleted pictures or videos in Photos for OS X
If you delete a picture or video by accident, or later regret it, you have 30 days to reverse it.
- Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
- Go to the File > Show recently deleted menu item.
- Click on the pictures or videos you want to recover.
- Click on the Recover button at the top right.
How to permanently delete pictures or videos in Photos for OS X
If you want to make sure a deleted picture or video is eradicated immediately and can’t be recovered, you can do that as well.
- Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
- Go to the File > Show recently deleted menu item.
- Click on the pictures or videos you want to permanently delete.
- Click on the Delete button at the top right.
Cricket Wireless offering new phone payment plans in wake of the Galaxy S6
Cricket Wireless announced earlier today that it launched new phone payment plans. The plans are “designed to help customers get the latest, premium devices.” Devices include the new Galaxy S6 and it’s designed to do so without breaking the bank. The prepaid carrier boasts that it’s the first to offer three credit financing options without an annual contract.
Qualified buyers can walk into any Cricket location and walk out with the phone of their dreams for as little as $20 down plus fees and taxes. Here are the plans:
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- Tier I: Finance your device for 24 months with no interest for a $19.99 down payment.
- Tier II: The second tier has the same downpayment of $19.99 but has six months deferred interest and 29.99 percent APR for the next 18 months after. If you pay it off in six months, you accrue no interest. If it’s not paid off, you are charged the 29.99 percent interest from the point of sale. So interest on the full amount is applied to your bill.
- Tier III: The “rent-to-own” option is basically a 90-days same as cash plan. You pay $49.99 upfront then pay the value of the phone over the course of 90 days without interest charges.
For tier I and II options, you’ll be subject to approval through a standard credit check with the added caveat of adding taxes and accessory charges into the loan. Tier III doesn’t require a credit check but a third party just might be used to verify financial information.
These plans apply to phones valued at $199.99 or more like the S6 and ZTE Grand X Max+ devices. Cricket will allow up to five devices to be financed per account. You can add accessories to your plan at any time after the purchase of a qualifying device.
But what, there’s more! Cricket is giving customers a chance to switch from T-Mobile, Metro-PCS, Sprint and Boost, among others and enticing them to do so with a month of service free. The only catch is you must complete two months of service to do so.
So if that seems like something that tickles your fancy, visit a Cricket store near you to snag the new S6 at a finance plan you can stomach.
source: Cricket
Come comment on this article: Cricket Wireless offering new phone payment plans in wake of the Galaxy S6
Youtube preparing to launch a subscription option that removes ads
Youtube fans are certainly accustomed at this point to the 5-10 second ads that pop up for the majority of videos on the network. While some users are just fine with dealing with the ads in order to see the content behind them, others probably wish there was a way to remove the video ads for good. If you fall into that second group, you might be happy to learn that YouTube is in fact planning a new monthly ad-free subscription service.
In the past we’ve heard whispers on the web about how Youtube might be planning such a service, but this time the word comes from a more official source — Youtube itself. Active channel operators, including Android Authority, have received emails about how Google is planning a subscription-based option and that it intends to share a portion of the revenue from this service with content providers.
Your fans want choices. Not only do they want to watch what they want, whenever they want, anywhere, and on any device they choose, they want YouTube features built specifically with their needs in mind. Over the past several months, we’ve taken bold new steps to bring these experiences to life. Since inviting hundreds of thousands of fans into our YouTube Music Key Beta, we’ve seen tremendous engagement. And we’ve seen an equally enthusiastic response for our new YouTube Kids app, designed to give families a simpler and safer video-viewing experience— it’s already crossed 2 million installations in less than one month.
We’re excited to build on this momentum by taking another big step in favor of choice: offering fans an ads-free version of YouTube for a monthly fee. By creating a new paid offering, we’ll generate a new source of revenue that will supplement your fast growing advertising revenue.
Here’s the portion of the email that describes how subscription revenue will be divided exactly, for those interested:
Subscription Revenues. YouTube will pay you 55% of the total net revenues recognized by YouTube from subscription fees that are attributable to the monthly views or watchtime of your Content as a percentage of the monthly views or watchtime of all or a subset of participating content in the relevant subscription offering (as determined by YouTube). If your Content is included in and viewed by a user in multiple subscription offerings, YouTube will pay you based on the subscription offering with the highest amount of net revenues recognized by YouTube, as calculated by YouTube.
Bottom-line, the Youtube ad-free option wouldn’t get in the way of revenue generation for your favorite channels, so you could sign up to remove ads while still knowing that you are supporting content creators. Aside from the removal of ads, what else can we expect from this subscription option? It’s hard to say for sure. The wording of the email that Youtube sent suggests that this is a separate option from Music Key, but it’s possible this could still be bundled into that service.
The email makes it pretty clear this ad-free subscription option is rolling out sooner rather than later, so it shouldn’t be too long before more details hit. Would you be willing to pay a subscription fee to ditch the ads on Youtube? If so, how much would you pay?
Apple Acquired Keyboard Startup ‘Dryft’ in 2014
Over the last few weeks, several previously unknown Apple acquisitions have surfaced. In March, Bloomberg shared news of the company’s purchase of data analytics firm Acunu, and earlier this week, TechCrunch reported that Apple had acquired search technology startup Ottocat in 2013.
TechCrunch has now shared news of another acquisition that happened in 2014 — the purchase of Dryft, a startup that specialized in creating keyboard apps. Dryft chief technology officer Randy Marsden, who also co-founded Swype, is listed as an “iOS Keyboard Manager” that joined Apple in September of 2014, suggesting the acquisition may have occurred around that date.
Dryft’s technology was a keyboard that appeared only on the screen when a user placed a finger on the display, and as described by TechCrunch, it’s “essentially a keyboard for tablets that tracks your fingers’ movements,” meaning it appears wherever your fingers are placed on the screen.
It is not clear if Apple plans to incorporate this specific technology into iOS or if it made the purchase of Dryft to acquire the company’s employees to work on other keyboard features. As of iOS 8, Apple’s operating system supports keyboards created by third-party developers, but the company has continued work on its own keyboard. iOS 8 brought keyboard improvements like QuickType, which offers word predictions to speed up typing.
Apple confirmed the acquisition to TechCrunch with its standard purchase statement: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”
iOS 8.3 Enables WiFi Calling for Sprint, EE Subscribers [iOS Blog]
Today’s iOS 8.3 update expands iOS 8’s WiFi calling feature to two new carriers: Sprint in the United States and EE in the United Kingdom.
WiFi calling is a feature that was first introduced in iOS 8, letting users make phone calls using WiFi instead of a cellular network when connected to a WiFi network. T-Mobile has thus far been one of the only carriers to support Wi-Fi calling in the United States, until today.
Following the iOS 8.3 update, Sprint users can toggle on Wi-Fi calling in the “Phone” section of the Settings app, which will let them make calls over Wi-Fi when a Wi-Fi network is available. Wi-Fi calling can be useful when cellular signal is low, and calls also have improved sound over Wi-Fi.
According to Sprint’s website, users will need to install the iOS 8.3 update and download Carrier Version 19.1. Sprint says the carrier update can be triggered by going to Settings –> General –> About after installing iOS 8.3, but the company’s announcement suggests it may take a few days to roll out to everyone.
Enabling Wi-Fi calling is a similar process for EE subscribers in the United Kingdom. According to Engadget, EE users will need to update to iOS 8.3 and then enable WiFi calling in the Settings app, after which the feature will be activated in a few hours. EE’s limiting the number of iPhones able to register for WiFi calling to 100,000 per day, so there may be a waiting period for some users.
WiFi calling is available for iPhone 5c, 5s, 6, and 6 Plus users with Sprint and EE service.
This week’s sidebar poll: What’s your browser of choice these days?
Tell us which Internet browser you’re using.
Chances are good that you do quite a bit of Internet browsing on your Android. Current technology — both on the website side and the web browser side — allow for both low-bandwidth mobile viewing or the full desktop experience on our phones and tablets, and that means there’s a big market for web browser client apps that have unique features. We love it when things like this happen, because it means we get better apps and can have more fun. Or do more work. But especially have more fun.
With so many different web browsers available in Google Play, we wanted to find out who is using what. When that happens, we turn to a trusty poll to see what readers here at AC think. Take the poll, then hash it all out in the comments. We’re counting on you fine folks to help us find the best web browser!
Band Camera Control lets you snap photos with your Windows Phone from the Microsoft Band
You can now control the camera on your Windows Phone device by giving vocal commands to your Microsoft Band. This is possible thanks to the app, Band Camera Control. After installing the app, just press and hold the action button on your Band and say commands such as ‘Camera take a photo’ or ‘Camera take 4 photos in 5 seconds.’ We tested it out on the Lumia Icon and it actually worked. See it in action in our hands-on video.
Nokia N1 Tablet Review
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The Bottom Line
- Fantastic hardware
- Top notch build quality
- Smooth performance
- Familiar, uninspired design
- Poor camera quality
- Speaker setup is dual mono, and not stereo
With its fantastic build quality, and hardware that allows for a consistent, smooth performance, the Nokia N1 tablet is certainly a great addition to the tablet space, with the only real hole being the lack of Google apps and services in its current iteration that is intended for the Chinese market.
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Nokia was once the most recognizable mobile phone brand in the world, but an unfortunate turn of events resulted in the company not keeping up with the rush of competitors that arose over the years, particularly in the smartphone sector. Even though Nokia is out of the smartphone game, and have no plans to return to it for now, brand licensing of their name and software was possible, ultimately leading to the creation of the Nokia N1 tablet, an Android-based device running Nokia’s Z Launcher and manufactured by Foxconn.
Read more: Best Android tablets
Apart from its Nokia branding, what does this Android tablet have to offer? Does it bring enough to the table to be a viable alternative to the current crop of devices flooding the tablet market? We find out, in this in-depth review of the Nokia N1 Tablet!
Rival tablets worth checking out
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Design
When it comes to the design and build quality, the Nokia N1 tablet can comfortably compete with the finest of the lot. Featuring an aluminium unibody design with a surface anodization, the device offers a solid, premium feel in the hand. The back is smooth, and can best be described as providing the feel of a sheet of metal. The tapered edges allow for a nice rounded look, while also contributing to the grip and handling experience.
Going around the device, the layout of the ports and buttons are standard. Up top are the headphone jack, mic, and the power button, with the volume rocker placed on the right, along with the dual mono speakers found at the bottom, flanking the USB-C port. The buttons provide a solid tactile feel, and have decent travel, which helps prevent any phantom presses. The front is dominated by the 7.9-inch display, with the 5 MP fixed focus front-facing camera above it. The back features no blemishes either, with only the rear-camera tucked away in a corner, along with the company branding and the obligatory technical information found towards the bottom.
It’s hard not to rave about how good this device feels in the hand, and with a thickness and weight of just 6.9 mm and 318 grams respectively, the handling experience is extremely comfortable. While the inspiration for the design is obvious, that isn’t a bad thing, and at least in terms of build quality, the Nokia N1 tablet does go toe to toe with the best.
Display
As mentioned, the Nokia N1 Tablet features a 7.9-inch IPS LCD display, with a 2048 x 1536 resolution, resulting in a pixel density of 324 ppi, and a 4:3 aspect ratio. The panel is back lit and comes with a full laminated zero air-gap display, allowing for a great display experience, while keeping things scratch free with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.
Simply put, this screen looks great, with the IPS technology allowing for fantastic viewing angles. That said, the colors may appear somewhat dull to some at first glance, but running a few tests showed the color reproduction to actually be extremely accurate, with the rather mellow look a result of the easy on the eyes natural color profile that Nokia chose to go with. With this resolution and pixel density, this may not be the sharpest display out there, but IT doesn’t take away a whole lot from the overall experience you will have on this display, be it reading text, watching videos, or playing games.
Something worth mentioning is the fact that there was some noticeable color bleeding when applying a little bit of pressure. It’s not something that should cause any long term issues, and may be an issue with this particular review unit, but is definitely worth making a note of, as it was something I found simply by gripping the tablet. This doesn’t detract from how good the display otherwise is.
Performance and Hardware
While Intel processors aren’t particularly common when it comes to powering Android smartphones and tablets, that is what we get under the hood of the Nokia N1 Tablet, with its 64-bit Intel Atom Z3580 processor, clocked at 2.3 GHz, and backed by the PowerVR G6430 GPU and 2 GB of RAM. For those unfamiliar with this particular processing package, the good news is the Nokia N1 tablet is a true speedster, with everything from navigating around the different elements of the OS, gaming, and even the start-up time, are all extremely fast. Apart from the occasional hiccup during some graphic-intensive gaming, the overall performance is smooth and consistent, and is certainly one of the better Android tablets I’ve used.
In other hardware, 32 GB of on-board storage is available, without an option for expandable storage via microSD, and the device also packs a standard suite of connectivity options and sensors, except for the presence of the USB-C port, a move away from the standard microUSB. We’ve already taken an in-depth look at the various features and advantages of the USB Type-C, but from a user perspective, it is definitely a joy to use, if only because of its reversible nature, making it incredibly easy to plug in.
The dual speakers at the bottom of the device do get very loud, but begin to lose a lot of quality with the volume beyond the 75% mark, becoming distorted, sharp, and airy. Also worth noting is that each speaker is a mono speaker, so if you cover one up, you can still hear both channels out of the other speaker, but overall, this doesn’t allow for the more immersive audio experience available from stereo speakers.
On the battery front, the Nokia N1 tablet packs a 5,300 mAh unit, that does provide an impressive battery life, and even more impressive standby time, with the device lasting for as long as 4 days with low to moderate usage. One thing to keep in mind is that Google Play Services and various Google applications aren’t available on this version of the device that is intended for the Chinese market, and the always running in the background nature of some these apps will result in a faster battery drain. Your mileage may vary in terms of battery life when the international version, with Google apps pre-installed, is made available, but should still be great nonetheless.
Camera
The camera prowess on a tablet is certainly not going to be the highlight, and while the Nokia N1 packs an 8 MP rear shooter, the image quality is just about average, but at par with what you would expect from most tablets. Images aren’t strong in detail, low light performance is questionable at best, and there are some issues with Dynamic Range as well, even with HDR turned on.
The same story continues when it comes to the 5 MP front-facing camera. A lot of images have a yellowish tint to them, and are very grainy, even in the case of shots taken in good lighting situations. As far as the camera application is concerned, it seems to a very stripped down version of the stock Android camera software that leaves out most of the features and extras that are otherwise available. Overall, it does feel like the entire camera setup has been added just for the sake of it being there, as opposed to being a notable aspect of the tablet experience.
Software
On the software side of things, the Nokia N1 tablet is running Android 5.0.1 Lollipop, with Nokia’s custom Z Launcher on top. The Z Launcher will of course be familiar to some, with the app, in its beta iteration, having been available for download from the Google Play Store for a few months now.
The Z Launcher is a minimalistic launcher that consists of primarily two screens, with the first featuring the most recent applications you have accessed, while the other is essentially the app drawer, featuring a long, alphabetized menu of all your installed applications. The launcher also learns what apps you use during what time of the day, and automatically makes those available to you at that time. What makes this launcher unique is the built-in gesture controls, called Scribble, that lets you a letter or word on the screen to easily open a particular app.
Apart from that there isn’t a whole lot to the software experience, with only a few additional settings available, including Compass and Gyro sensor calibration, and Intel Smart Video. As mentioned, this particular version doesn’t offer Google Play Services, but that will not be the case when the device makes its way to a wider release. It is also important to keep in mind that the Z Launcher is still in its beta iteration, with the upcoming full release likely taking care of any bugs and glitches you may notice now.
Specifications
| Display | 7.9-inch IPS LCD 2048 x 1536 resolution, 324 ppi |
| Processor | 2.3 GHz Intel Atom Z3580 PowerVR G5430 GPU |
| RAM | 2 GB |
| Storage | 32 GB, not expandable |
| Camera | 8 MP rear camera 5 MP front-facing camera |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band Bluetooth 4.0 USB 2.0 Type-C |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, gyroscope |
| Battery | 5,300 mAh |
| Software | Android 5.0.1 Lollipop |
| Dimensions | 200.7 x 138.6 x 6.9 mm 318 grams |
| Colors | Natural aluminium Lava Gray |
Gallery
Pricing and Final Thoughts
The Nokia N1 is currently available only in China, priced at approximately $260, but can be picked up from Amazon for a comparatively far steeper $459. Keep in mind that the device available from Amazon is still the Chinese version, and does not support Google Play services, and it is recommended to wait for the international release that should be happening shortly.
So, there you have it – a closer look at the Nokia N1 tablet! In a lot of ways, it is truly difficult to judge an Android device without testing its full capabilities, something not possible due to the lack of Google Play services and apps in this particular version of the device. That said, everything that was thrown at it, from everyday tasks to some intense gaming, the device handled admirably. The Z Launcher certainly gets the job done if you’re looking for a very simple, easy to use software experience, and of course, you always have the option to replace it with other launchers. There’s no doubt that the Nokia N1 tablet is a great offering in this space, and is easy to recommend, as long as Google apps are made available that is.
AIVAnet 