Google Search notifies users of peak business times in results
Google is always thinking of bright ideas to make our lives more efficient. One annoyance we often have while we’re out and about is arriving at our favorite shop only to find that we weren’t the only ones with it in mind. Our delightful trip then turns into frustration of shuffling through crowds and waiting in line.
Fortunately, Google is expanding their business data collection to be able to relay to us the busiest times in a particular day that business sees throughout the week.
The information will show up when you search for a business and tap on the name to expand their details. Google states that the feature will cover “millions of places and businesses around the world”.
I would certainly love some extra time! Kudos to Google for the idea.
Source: Google+
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Google Store offering $15 discount with purchase of two Chromecasts
Google is offering a limited time promotion on its popular Chromecast device which might be of interest to you. Normally $35 a pop, you can pick up two of them for $55. Indeed, a limited time promotion sees Google shaving $15 off the cost of two Chromecasts.
It is not clear how long the deal lasts so be sure to hop on it quickly if you’re interested.
“Good for one movie rental on Google Play with the purchase of one Chromecast from the Google Store in US from July 24, 2015 – December 31, 2015. A promo code will be emailed after the device ships. “
Also, don’t forget that you can also score a free movie rental with the purchase of a Chromecast!
The post Google Store offering $15 discount with purchase of two Chromecasts appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Art wallpapers to class up your phone
Just because you have a high tech device doesn’t mean you can’t class it up. If you want to show off your artistic side, try one of these classic wallpapers. You may not have an extra 100 million dollars laying around to buy one of these paintings from a Sotheby’s auction, but you can still appreciate it by using one as your wallpaper. From Monet, Da Vinci, to Renoir we have you covered and best of all, they are free.
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High Court to decide Uber’s London fate in October
A long-running legal dispute between Uber and the UK’s Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) may soon come to an end. Starting on October 5th, the High Court will hold a hearing with both parties and Transport for London (TfL) to determine whether the smartphones used by Uber drivers are technically the same as taximeters.
The argument goes like this: TfL granted Uber its private hire operator’s licence in 2012. The following year, the Licensed Private Hire Car Association and the LTDA approached TfL and argued that Uber drivers’ phones — which use GPS to measure the distance and time of a journey — were the same as a traditional taxi fare calculator. Only London cabbies can use taximeters, so if they’re correct, Uber would technically be breaking the law. TfL stood firm though and said that in its “provisional view” the two weren’t the same. It did, however, admit that the legislation was outdated and difficult to apply to Uber. “The law in this area is untested and is open to a different interpretation,” TfL said in January.
So the matter is being referred to the High Court for an official reading of the law. TfL, Uber and the LTDA will all have a chance to express their side of the argument — whatever decision is made, hopefully it’ll be enough to settle the matter once and for all.
[Image Credit: Andrew Matthews/PA WIRE]
Filed under: Transportation
Via: BBC
Livescribe’s 8GB Echo Pro smartpen connects to Mac and Windows
Livescribe has refreshed one of its older smartpens from way before it had an option that can automatically sync with iOS and Android devices. The new Echo 8GB Pro edition can save up to 800 hours of recording and connects to a Mac or a Windows computer via old-school USB connection, just like its predecessor. It doesn’t differ that much from its older sibling, so it’s presumably more powerful, with more advanced components. Similar to other Livescribe pens, Echo Pro digitizes what you write on the company’s special dot paper and records audio, such as a professor’s lecture (or incessant droning, depending on how you see it) at the same time.
Even better, you can sync your notes and recorded audio in what Livescribe calls a “pencast,” which you can upload to the computer and manage using the Echo Desktop software. The latest version of that software was designed to be easier to use, and clicking around your notes on the computer takes you to the part of the recording you want to listen to. If you’re in the US and prefer a smartpen that syncs with a computer instead of a mobile device, you can get the Echo Pro straight from Livescribe for $200. Otherwise, you can grab one from Amazon wherever you are in the world.
Filed under: Peripherals
Source: Livescribe
Samsung sensor puts 16-megapixel cameras into slim phones
Wondering how Samsung manages to cram a 16-megapixel camera into seemingly wafer-thin phones like the Galaxy A8? By developing a brand-spanking new sensor that fits, that’s how. The Korean company has built an ISOCELL-based CMOS imager that uses extremely tiny 1.0-micron pixels instead of the 1.12-micron units from the previous model. That may not sound like much of a difference, but it amounts to a sensor that’s 20 percent thinner, at a scant 5mm (0.2 inches) deep. In short, you won’t have to accept an unsightly camera hump just to get high-resolution shots.
There’s going to be some compromises with this sensor. While ISOCELL is supposed to help offset the light reception lost by using smaller pixels, the camera just won’t perform as well in dimly-lit environments as bigger sensors from Samsung or its rivals. Still, this is a big deal if you don’t want to settle for low-res pictures in slim devices — and it’s not an exclusive, so you may see it pop up in other companies’ phones before long.
Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Mobile, Samsung
Source: Samsung Tomorrow (1), (2)
Google Translate can help you with text in 20 new languages
Let’s face it: Google Translate is a handy tool when traveling abroad or reading text on the web that’s written in a different language. The software already offered help with seven languages, and today Mountain View added 20 more. This means that you’ll be able to translate to and from English to Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, Indonesian, Polish, Turkish and several others. You’ll also be able to leverage one-way translation from English to Hindi or Thai. And all of those are just for printed text.
You can also use the camera on your mobile device to snap a pictures of a sign or text that you need a hand with as Google Translate’s camera mode supports 37 different languages. To put the software to work, though, you’ll have to download a 2MB language pack for each one inside the app. Google also beefed up the voice conversation mode so that its real-time translation works well even on slower networks, which is particularly handy in developing areas. The updates are hitting both Android and iOS apps over the next few days.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Google
Source: Google
Apple Releases FaceTime Camera Driver Update for All 2015 MacBooks
Apple has released a FaceTime Camera Driver Update for all 2015 MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro notebooks that improves FaceTime camera compatibility with Windows. Apple recommends that all Boot Camp users install the software update (1.4MB) from the Apple Support website.
The software update was released for the following notebooks:
– MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015)
– MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)
– MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015)
– MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)
– MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)
Languages supported include English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Polish, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Korean, Chinese (Traditional) and Chinese (Simplified).
Google Translate adds video translation support for 25 more languages
In May of 2014 Google acquired Word Lens, leaving us wondering when exactly the tech would make its way into Google Translate. The answer to that question came in January of this year, when Word Lens real-time instant video translations arrived to the app with support for seven languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. To little surprise, that was only the beginning.
Translate has now added support for 20 new languages, though you’ll need to download a small file (less than 2MB) for each language pack that you’d like access to. One of the best things about the instant visual translation feature is that it is designed to work totally offline, so even if you find yourself in a remote location with spotty cellular and Wi-Fi coverage, that’s no problem.
Here’s the full list of languages that have been added, in addition to the seven already mentioned above:
You can now translate to and from English and Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Filipino, Finnish, Hungarian, Indonesian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Swedish, Turkish and Ukrainian. You can also do one-way translations from English to Hindi and Thai.
Curious about how the technology that does this type of advanced visual translation works? Google has released a new article to its research blog that dives in a bit deeper into the process, for those interested.
While the addition of new languages to its Word Lens feature is obviously the big news here, Google’s official blog post also mentions that the app is being updated with improvements to the voice conversation mode as well. Though Google doesn’t get into details, they say that its real-time conversation translations will now be faster, more natural and will play nicely even with slower networks.
You can expect all the aforementioned changes to hit the Android app “in the next few days”. Considering this is Google, however, we’d imagine the update will arrive to folks in various stages. What do you think of Google’s Translate features? How do you feel they compare to the competition? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This phone is called Homtom and it has a 6,250 mAh battery
The freshly announced Moto X Play has a 3,630 battery. That’s pretty impressive, right? Yes, it is. But have you ever wondered what kind of battery capacities we could have if anorexic designs and feature overload didn’t stand in the way?
Well, wonder no more, because the Homtom HT6 is here and it’s unlike anything you’ve seen before.
Homtom is a sub-brand that Chinese manufacturer Doogee just launched, which will focus specifically on phones with extra-large batteries. The goofy name is reportedly a transliteration of Chinese words meaning “eternal connection.” Fitting.
The Homtom HT6 looks like any other generic smartphone spewed out of China’s mammoth mobile industry. But the battery, which is a massive 6,250 mAh, is out of this world.
For reference, a Galaxy S6 has a 2,550 mAh battery. An 8-inch Galaxy Tab S2 has a 4,000 mAh battery. A MacBook Air has a 5,100 mAh battery.
Adding to the achievement, the Homtom HT6 is just 9.9 millimeters thick, which is entirely reasonable for a modern smartphone.
So, what will that humongous battery power in the HT6? The rest of the specs are not nearly as impressive: a MT6735 quad-core processor, a 5.5-inch HD display, a 13MP camera, and 16GB of storage. There’s also fast charging (MediaTek Pump Express), to minimize the time spent charging up.
The Homtom HT6 is reportedly coming in September – unfortunately, we couldn’t find official details on it. There’s a chance this phone is vaporware, but given that we’ve already reviewed a phone with a 5,000 mAh battery, adding another 1,000 mAh or so doesn’t seem like too far-fetched.
What do you think of the Homtom HT6? Would you buy it?
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