Sending directions to your phone is as simple as a Google search
Google is making the process of sending route directions from your PC to your phone simpler. Much simpler.
You know how it goes – for one reason or another you decide to look up directions to a location on your computer. All is good until you’re out and about and you have to search for the same directions again on your smartphone. That’s just wasted time and Google hates that, so it’s adding a new feature to Google Search to quickly send directions from your computer to your phone.
Just type in “send directions” in Google Search and you will be shown a simple interface that lets you pick the place you want to get to. Your phone’s location is automatically selected as the starting point, though you can change it to any place you wish. After you enter the destination, just click “Send directions to my phone” and the route will load up in Google Maps on your device. Nifty!
The feature seems to be active in the US, though we couldn’t get it to work in Europe at the moment of this writing. But there’s no reason for Google not to roll this feature out globally, so it’s likely just a matter of time. “Send directions” joins “find my phone,” another location-related feature that is now accessible from Google Search.
Can you “send directions” yet? Sound like a useful feature for you?
Steam lets modders sell their wares, starting with ‘Skyrim’
Valve’s move to start selling community-created mods on its PC-game storefront looks like it could boost that $57 million user payout from earlier this year. And it’s starting with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim — one of the most popular moddable games. The process sounds pretty easy as Valve tells it, too. Upload your tweak to the Skyrim Creation Kit, agree to the new Steam Workshop terms, enter payment info and set your creation free. Within the week, it’ll go up for sale at a price of your choosing. You can even add revenue splitting if you’re working with a team and generally control the whole process from start to finish.
The promise is that the cream’ll rise to the top here and you’ll start seeing higher quality mods as a result. You can get refunds on any that you’ve bought so long as it’s within 24 hours of purchase, and really, that about sums it up. Polygon reports that pricing on the first wave of mods is between $0.25 and $5.99, with Newell and Co. selling a pack of 17 of ‘em at a discounted rate of around $29. And just like that, your weekend’s booked solid.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Via: Polygon
Source: Valve
Apple Offers Virtual ‘Personal Setup’ to Soon-to-Be Apple Watch Owners [iOS Blog]
As many users in the United States slept Thursday night, Apple began slowly emailing Apple Watch pre-order customers with a confirmed April 24 delivery date about a “Personal Setup” program designed around the Watch.
Aimed to visually guide new users through the Apple Watch’s setup process and beyond, the Personal Setup program is a video session with an Apple employee where the company does its best to answer every question a user has about the wrist-worn device.
As with in-store try-on appointments, the Personal Setup video session requires a scheduled appointment, with dates as of writing ranging from early Friday morning all the way through the evening on May 7.
Your Apple Watch will be in your hands shortly. Once it is, we can help you get started right in the comfort of your own home with online Personal Setup. It’s a video session* where we show you how to set up Apple Watch with your iPhone, walk you through some key features, and answer your questions. We’ll also point out some great apps, and help you personalize your device.
Of course, you can always visit an Apple Store and request a Personal Setup session with a Specialist.
Thank you for choosing Apple.
Interestingly, the times of each appointment fluctuate everywhere from 10 minutes to an hour, so it appears Apple may be letting customers choose a time they think is best for their own personal setup and knowledge of the Apple Watch, although the company has yet to confirm the max length a session can go.
While the email from Apple does make mention of visiting a retail location, the move does fall in line with retail chief Angela Ahrendt’s recent move of keeping the Apple Watch launch as brick-and-mortar free as possible.
The first Apple Watch deliveries should begin making the rounds in just a few short hours in the United States, with worldwide deliveries already resulting in some positive first impressions and teardowns of the wearable.
Apple Debuts Three Apple Watch Ads: ‘Rise’, ‘Up’ and ‘Us’
Hours before the Apple Watch is set to officially launch, Apple has debuted three new ads called “Rise”, “Up” and “Us”. The three ads focus on the three aspects of the device CEO Tim Cook highlighted when the Apple Watch was first introduced: a device that helps you with time, a comprehensive health and fitness device and an intimate communication device.
The first ad, “Rise”, shows people using the Apple Watch to help them spend their time. People are seen using the Apple Watch as an alarm clock, seeing incoming messages, using it on their commute, using it as a ticket at an airport, getting around with the Maps app and more.
The second ad, “Up”, features users using the Apple Watch’s health and fitness features. People can be seen setting up their fitness goals on the Watch in addition to using it while both exercising and doing various activities, both intensive and casual. It also features moments where users are alerted to stand while working or commuting.
The final ad, “Us”, has people using the Watches’ communication features, including the ability to draw pictures, send animated emojis, and send heart beats and taps to the wrists of other Apple Watch users. Interestingly, the ad also features people spending time with each other and paying attention to the world around them, illustrating how the Watch could free some users from their phones.
All three ads end similarly, declaring that “the Watch is here”. Thus far, Apple’s marketing campaign for the Apple Watch has focused on getting the device on the wrists of athletes, models and other celebrities for maximum exposure. Moving forward, it appears Apple will begin making a case for how the Apple Watch will be used by most people.
The Army’s testing clip-on ray gun attachments for its rifles
The energy-blasting G.I. Joe future that we’ve all been waiting for is steadily getting closer. Not only is the US Army outfitting trucks with increasingly powerful laser systems, it is also looking to provide similar capabilities to its dismounted troops as well. Dubbed “Burke Pulser” attachments after their creator Army Armament Research electronics engineer James E. Burke, these devices utilize a piezoelectric generator and two protruding antennas to generate powerful bursts of electrical. The entire unit fits onto the end of the Army’s M4 carbine just as a standard-issue flash suppressor does.
And while the truck-mounted HEL-MD lasers are being built to fry incoming aerial threats like drones and missiles, the Pulser is meant to instead obliterate the electrical circuitry of roadside bombs and IEDs. The system is still in its early development but, should the program reach full production, Burke estimates that each device could be built for under $1000. That’s a heck of a lot cheaper (in both money and manpower) than sending in an EOD (bomb disposal) squad.
Filed under: Science
Via: SlashGear
Source: Defense One
The new ‘Call of Duty Black Ops 3’ trailer looks… familiar
The latest teaser trailer for Call of Duty Black Ops 3 – this year’s installment from Black Ops creator Treyarch — depicts a future ruptured by the onset of technologically enhanced and weaponized humans. There are riots in the streets and ominous news reports on the screens, plus a whistleblower who claims that the government is turning humans into death machines. Black Ops generally deals with futuristic combat, but the new transhumanist angle is oddly reminiscent of another AAA franchise, Deus Ex. And that’s not just us saying so: The official Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Twitter account responded to the Black Ops 3 trailer with a picture of a confused (and adorable) cat, and Deus Ex executive art director Jonathan Jacques-Belletete jokingly welcomed Treyarch to the bandwagon. “We lied guyz. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided actually takes place on the Eastern Front during World War 2. We felt inspired,” he tweeted. Watch the teaser below and judge our technological future for yourself.
.@CallofDuty pic.twitter.com/B6tSF92xCv
– Deus Ex (@DeusEx) April 23, 2015
Via: NeoGAF
Source: Call of Duty
Samsung’s next smartwatch will be round
Samsung’s gearing up for the launch of its latest smartwatch by releasing its SDK ahead of the official reveal, which it has never done before. Devs might need some extra time to prep their applications for its release you see, since the newest Galaxy Gear will most likely have a rounded watch face unlike its older siblings’ rectangular ones. The press release announcing the SDK, spotted by Android Central, came a with a circle weather watch face graphic, along with a few images of rounded apps (CNN, Yelp and more). Sadly, there were no hints in the PR indicating when the new device will be launched. But if you’re really hankering for a rounded smartwatch, there’s already a few out on the market, including the Moto 360 and the LG G Watch R.
Filed under: Wearables, Samsung
Via: The Verge, Android Central
Source: Samsung
Teardown of 38mm Apple Watch Sport Reveals 205 mAh Battery, Taptic Engine
iFixit is currently in the process of tearing down a 38mm Apple Watch Sport after the device launched in Australia today. While it is still early in the teardown process, the team has found that disconnecting the display from the body can be a little difficult, similar to the troublesome Touch ID cable on the iPhone 5s.
Behind the display, two of the most significant features of the Apple Watch are easily viewable in the Taptic Engine and Digital Crown. Also inside is the tiny 3.8V 205 mAh battery, which iFixit notes is “lightly adhered” and easy to remove. Apple has said the 42mm Apple Watch will generally have slightly longer battery life than the 38mm model, so we expect the larger Apple Watch will have a higher-capacity battery filling up the extra space inside the casing.
iFixit’s teardown is still in progress and this post will be updated as additional discoveries are made.
Cablevision offers ‘Cord Cutter’ packages with optional HBO Now
It looks like Cablevision is covering all of its bases. Today the company announced “Cord Cutter” packages that include a free digital antenna and access to its Optimum WiFi network. Additionally, Cablevision is offering the option of adding HBO Now to the service, making it the first ever cable provider to do so. With pay-TV losing customers to streaming services, it makes sense for these companies to offer broadband-only packages. In a statement, CEO Kristin Dolan, said: “Our new ‘cord cutter’ packages take a modern approach to traditional triple-product bundles and provide real alternatives that fit new consumer lifestyles.”
Filed under: Misc, Internet, HD
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Cablevision
Daily Roundup: Comcast rethinks bid for Time Warner, Project Fi and more!
In today’s Daily Roundup, read about Comcast reportedly dropping its bid for Time Warner Cable, how Google’s Project Fi mobile phone service will work and get the details on an amazing Jedi mode for Star Wars Galaxy that never quite happened. All these stories and more below!
Comcast will reportedly drop its bid for Time Warner Cable
That heavily-criticized $45 billion Comcast and Time Warner Cable merger? Well, it looks like it’s not going to happen after all. Bloomberg reports that the former company is dropping its bid to acquire the latter, with an official announcement expected as soon as tomorrow. Just yesterday, reports surfaced that the Federal Communications Commission proposed a hearing, serving as the latest sign that the merger could be doomed.
A cheat sheet to Project Fi, Google’s mobile phone service
Rumors of Google breaking into the wireless carrier game have been fodder for scoops, breathless reports and thinkpieces for years now, and for the longest time it looked like the search giant just couldn’;t make it happen. Yesterday Google put all that to rest. Project Fi is finally here (if invite-only and fully compatible with one phone) — here is what you absolutely need to know about it.
The amazing ‘Star Wars Galaxies’ Jedi mode that never was
“Well, my opinion is Jedi are evil.” That’s how Raph Koster, creative director of the 2003 MMO Star Wars Galaxies, begins discussing the problems that faced his design team back in the day. Jedi were too powerful, too desirable and too canonically rare to be successfully implemented in Star Wars Galaxies as a standard class — and this was precisely why so many fans ditched the game when its third major patch added Jedi as a starting character. Before launch, the Star Wars Galaxies creative team obsessed over ways to implement playable Jedi into the game, and one solution stands out to Koster as “the crazy idea I still wish we had done.”
Will Tidal’s artist exclusives ruin streaming music?
Tidal, the Jay Z-led music-streaming service, recently relaunched at the end of March with a roster of high-profile celebrity backers, like Madonna, Rihanna and Kanye West. The event was much more than an obvious photo-opp; it was a statement: In addition to a ceremonial pact signing, the group of over a dozen artists pledged to tackle fair compensation and improve the current state of streaming affairs for consumers and musicians. Part of this strategy involves offering content exclusive to Tidal.
This smartphone is extra-secure and stronger than steel
How do you stand out if you’re a fledgling smartphone maker that can’t compete on specs alone? If you’re Turing Robotic Industries, you pour your energy into clever design — both inside and out. The newly unveiled Turing Phone puts an emphasis on security, with its own server-free encrypted communication between owners and a fingerprint reader that encourages you to lock down your device. There’s also an Apple-like magnetic charging system, so you won’t send your phone flying.
House passes bill allowing corporations to share your data
If you wanted to explain the dilemma of privacy versus security to a curious relative, the Protecting Cyber Networks Act would be a good place to start. The bill has just been passed by the House of representatives (voting 307-116 in favor), and is designed to prevent future cyber attacks by allowing corporations to share information with each other and the government. Civil liberties groups claim the bill tramples on the privacy of the customers, and opens the door for agencies like the NSA to access their data (not that it needs much help, it seems).
Aziz Ansari is getting his own Netflix comedy series
Netflix must have liked the response to Aziz Ansari’s latest stand-up special, as it’s about to give the comedian a lot more screen time. Deadline understands that the streaming service has ordered a 10-episode series co-created by Ansari and Parks and Recreation executive producer Andy Yang. It’s not clear what the plot of the show will be (there are hints of a semi-autobiographic theme), but it’ll be co-produced by some of Ansari’s Parks and Recreation pals and include guests like Homeland’s Claire Danes.
Filed under: Misc
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