Website writes up notes for you using Instagram font
Kidnappers who send out ransom notes made of magazine cutouts are so old school. Any self-respecting, tech-savvy abductor who finds ordinary fonts boring would use Type To Design’s Instagram font generator instead. It’s pretty easy to use, too. You just go its website, type in your sinister warning or whatever, and it will scour Type To Design’s curated collection of letters and numbers taken from the photo-sharing network. Unhappy with how a particular figure looks? Refresh, and it will find alternatives for you. After that, save the note as a PDF to print it out or screenshot it like we did above.
Of course, it creators didn’t actually build the website for the sake of criminals and hardened hooligans. They conjured it up for the 36 Days of Type initiative, which challenged designers, illustrators and graphic artists to create novel designs of the alphabet and numbers. So, go wild and use it for party invitations, scrapbooks or fun, anonymous stalker love letters.
Filed under: Misc
Full offline Google Maps experience coming this year
Google, as part of its keynote speech, showed off a more rich Maps client for Android. Due later this year, the new mobile app will offer a full offline experience that includes all of the normal features we take for granted.
Once rolled out users will be able to search for businesses and locations, review hours, and even auto-complete results. In perhaps one of the coolest demonstrations of the day, Google showed off a complete turn-by-turn navigation.
For a quick glimpse, check out the video below at around the 2:11:45 mark.
Although we’ve been able to save maps offline and cache details for some time, it’s nowhere near as fleshed out as the upcoming stuff. Unfortunately, there’s no indication as to when we’ll see the new Maps. The best Google would offer up is “later this year”.
One of the reasons we’re looking forward to the new Maps experience is that it breathes new life into otherwise old and useless devices. You’ll soon be able to take your deactivated or WiFi-only models and repurpose them into working turn-by-turn navigation tools.
The post Full offline Google Maps experience coming this year appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Google now highlights family friendly content in Play Store
Google on Thursday announced it is now much easier for Play Store users to find family friendly content. Be it apps, games, movies, or other media, Google wants to better the process of finding great stuff.
Starting today, visitors can locate content that is age appropriate and friendly to younger users. As part of the new filter Google will provide searching and filtering by age groups, characters, and other tools.
Additionally, a new Family Star graphic will appear throughout the Play Store to signal whether content is appropriate for the younger demographic.
Parents will find it is more obvious whether a game or app includes ads; it is possible to restrict downloads, purchases, and/or streaming of a mature content. Finally, Google has also introduced new character badges which let users view and search Google Play Store content based on specific brands.
“To help you browse Google Play content around a favorite character, we’ve created special pages featuring dozens of top characters from across the globe, like PBS KIDS, Pororo and Peppa Pig. From the Play store app, take a tour through all of our popular characters to find apps, movies, books and more from your family’s favorites.“
The post Google now highlights family friendly content in Play Store appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Sup son: Android M easter egg is amusing, for now
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Google likes easter eggs, and the ones that are the most interesting are the ones that come with each new version of Android. Android KitKat had the KitKat-inspired Android page and Android Lollipop had its Lollipop page and Flappy Bird-esque game. Android M will undoubtedly have something like this when its official name is released, but for now in the Android M Developer Preview at least, this is your Android M easter egg:
Image courtesy of Droid-life
It’s not particularly insightful, but it is amusing – as far as ascii emojis go, that’s not a bad one at all to go with.
What do you think of the Android M easter egg? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Droid-life
The post Sup son: Android M easter egg is amusing, for now appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Uber’s driver app now serves the hearing impaired
More often than not, most features released by Uber are designed for its customers, not drivers. Today, though, the ridesharing firm is making some changes to help a specific group of people behind the wheel: those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. These updates, planned in tandem with the National Association of the Deaf, lets drivers access an Uber Partner app that offers tools created particularly for the hearing impaired. For example, contractors are now able to modify their app to have the flashlight turn on when a trip’s being requested, along with the existing audio notification. They can also set it so that riders receive a message directly on the Uber app, prompting them to enter a destination or to provide special instructions for a pick-up.
Uber’s currently testing this in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, DC, but the company says a broader rollout will be happening “soon.”
Filed under: Transportation, Software
Source: Uber
Nest thermostat will be the central point for Google’s Internet of Things
Google bought Nest in 2014 with the plan for big things. The Nest thermostat is one of the most powerful WiFi connected thermostats in the word, but programming the temperature in your home is only the tip of the iceberg.
Google started a program called “Works With Nest” last year that allows Nest to communicate with various other home automation devices. The goal is to make Nest a central part of the home automation system, but not the full controller. For example, if you have Philips Hues lights, there are various apps to control those lights on a regular basis. However, the Nest thermostat can kick things up a notch by adding additional controls since it knows when someone is in or out of the house. If Nest detects that you just arrived at home, it might turn on certain lights, or if you have left the house, it could turn off lights that you forget.
With the announcement of Brillo and Weave at I/O 2015, Nest will be able to communicate with even more devices. Brillo is the operating system that is based on the “lower levels of Android”, while Weave is the communications layer that will allow connected devices to talk to one another. These two ingredients makeup Google’s attempt at the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT is about connecting a slew of devices in order to automate and make your life that much easier.
Imagine that your drying clothes and leave the house. Nest senses no one is home so it can switch your dryer to a refresh mode when your cycle ends, keeping your clothes fresh and wrinkle-free. This is something that can already be done through the “Works With Nest” program with Whirlpool washers and dryers.
It is the Brillo OS and the Weave communications layer that will bring even more devices. The Brillo OS will bring new connected devices to market from appliances, door locks, etc. The Weave communications layer will assist in the interaction between Nest and these new devices. Google will release a developer preview version of Brillo during the 3rd quarter of this year, with the first products coming to market in early 2016.
With all this said, Google still has a big hurdle and that is programming. Consumers haven’t adopted home automation because it requires a lot of work to get the most out of it. That is something that I am sure Google is working on and will likely have an answer for by next year’s I/O.
Be sure to check out our complete Google I/O 2015 coverage.
Come comment on this article: Nest thermostat will be the central point for Google’s Internet of Things
Apple Offers Temporary Fix for iOS Text Bug, Says Update’s Coming Soon
A couple days after a new iOS bug was discovered, allowing a select string of characters sent in an iMessage or text to reset iPhones and crash the Messages app, Apple has created a new support document to address the problem. The Cupertino company acknowledges the problem and says that it’s working on a fix, offering temporary solutions in the mean time.
Apple is aware of an iMessage issue caused by a specific series of unicode characters and we will make a fix available in a software update. Until the update is available, you can use these steps to re-open the Messages app.
1. Ask Siri to “read unread messages.”
2. Use Siri to reply to the malicious message. After you reply, you’ll be able to open Messages again
3. In Messages, swipe left to delete the entire thread. Or tap and hold the malicious message, tap More, and delete the message from the thread.
In addition to Apple’s suggestions, there are other possible fixes that have worked for MacRumors in other scenarios. For instance, if Messages was opened in conversation list view you can fix the issue by having someone send you a message or sending yourself a message via Siri or through the Share sheet in any app.
Google’s Project Jacquard wants to put a trackpad on your pants
The ATAP division of Google is known for some the most innovative ideas to come out of Silicon Valley. It’s the home of the Project Ara modular phone and Project Tango. So it’s no surprise to find that Project Jacquard has a large single piece of fabric with conductive yarn woven in that works like a trackpad. The Jacquard team said that more information about its technology would be revealed at tomorrow’s ATAP session, but it already looks promising.
The Jacquard loom can weave regular and conductive fabric into a single piece of textile. On the demo table at I/O, the conductive squares on the larger piece of fabric where used to turn lights on, control a media player, and power two touch-tracking setups that visualized the interaction. The conductive surface uses low-power Wi-Fi to communicate with devices. While the demo was on a flat surface, the additional electronics needed to power and connect the fabric to a device are not quite ready to be sewn into your pants. The team is still working on shrinking those components down to integrate with its loom. But once they do, you might be swiping your next jacket to control smartphone.
Filed under: Misc, Peripherals, Wearables, Wireless, Google
Source: Project Jacquard
Oh no: MIT’s Cheetah robot can jump over hurdles while running
MIT’s scientists spent years making the Cheetah robot a more efficient runner. Now that’s done, its creators probably thought it was time to give it a major upgrade: the metal quadruped can now autonomously jump over hurdles like a trained horse. Yes, it can automatically detect and leap over multiple objects while it runs — even without a tether. The scientists claim it’s the “first four-legged robot” to be able to do so, and we’ll bet they’ll train it further to leap over much higher walls, as well as give future machines the same ability. Now where can we hide?
Filed under: Robots
Via: Gizmodo
Source: MIT (YouTube)
Autoplay, queuing, second screen and multiplayer gaming comes to the Chromecast
While we didn’t get a revamped version of the Chromecast at Google I/O like many were expecting, the first generation media streamer is still quite powerful. And pretty soon, it’s going to become much more versatile than ever before.
Just like with individual applications like Netflix or Hulu that allow you to autoplay episodes of your favorite TV show, Chromecast will soon get this feature, only for all applications. Developers will be able to add functionality to their content that will let a second video buffer while the first one is still playing. Users will also be able to control their queues, which will let them re-order/add/subtract videos as needed. This feature will certainly be welcomed by Chromecast owners.
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Google doesn’t stop there, though. Google has also added in multiplayer gaming support, which allows folks to invite their friends to play Chromecast-enabled games in multiplayer mode. Games will require a slight tweaking in order to be compatible with this new feature, but Google is sure developers will adopt the new feature in no time. Google is doing this by means of a new Game Manager API, which makes it a lot easier for devs to create multiplayer experiences that span to both Android and iOS devices.
Google has also released a set of powerful tools for devs called Remote Display APIs. These new APIs, when implemented into individual apps, will let you duplicate your display, giving you a second screen. For instance, with the proper APIs integrated into a racing game, users can utilize their smartphones as a steering wheel, while watching the road on their TV.
Autodesk Pixlr has implemented an early version of these APIs already, as you can see above. This new functionality certainly starts to suggest ways in which Google plans to utilize all screens as best as it can. It may be a little while before we start seeing devs take advantage of these new APIs, but when they do, Chromecast will be much more functional than before.
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