Sprint’s Direct 2 You service expands to four more major cities
Today, Sprint announced its Direct 2 You service is expanding. The service will now be available in Atlanta, Boston, Houston and Philadelphia.
The purpose of the Direct 2 You is to bring a carrier expert to your home or business, benefiting people that are too busy to schedule an appointment at a Sprint to store to get help. Representatives who work directly for Sprint will help set-up the phones exactly how customers want, making it fitted to individual preferences without having any complications. Sprint says this is a far more reliable service than others similar to it and is even willing to share some training tips.
Sprint stated it’s looking forward to adding more cities to the service later this year. Direct 2 You is already available in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Franscisco, Tampa Bay, Washington D.C., and their surrounding areas.
Source: Sprint
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Internet giants team up to fight child porn through shared lists
The world’s larger online companies have already been doing quite a lot to combat child porn on their own, but they’re now teaming up to fight that sexual abuse across the internet. Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo are partnering with the UK’s Internet Watch Foundation to share hash lists (aka digital fingerprints) of blocked indecent images. In theory, the move makes sure that a photo pulled on one site doesn’t simply pop up elsewhere. All of the IWF’s members will eventually use the list, so you could soon see this collective blocking in use at Amazon, Apple, Dropbox and PayPal, among others.
This isn’t a magic bullet. The screening only works when offending images are on the list in the first place, and it won’t function on the Dark Web and other places where peddlers can trade content in relative secrecy. Still, this could do a lot to prevent child porn distributors from operating on publicly operated sites, even through private sharing — they’d have to retreat to those darker corners just to operate at all.
[Image credit: Microsoft]
Filed under:
Internet, Google, Facebook
Via:
BBC
Source:
Internet Watch Foundation
Tags: ChildPornography, facebook, google, hashlist, internet, internetwatchfoundation, iwf, sexualabuse, twitter
‘Faster, sleeker and simpler’ Hangouts arrives on Android
Google released its Hangouts 4.0 for the Android platform on Monday. First and foremost, the app now has been reskinned with material design. It also features a simplified compose button as well as a streamlined contacts list and file attachment function. What’s more, the company has reportedly has even gotten the app to consume less power thanks to improved messaging speeds and “obsessively fixing bugs.” They’re basically the same set of UI and performance tweaks that we saw at the end of June when the iOS version updated to the new material design version.
[Image Credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Filed under:
Internet, Apple, Google
Tags: Apple, google, hangouts, ios, materialdesign
Spotify is reportedly clamping down on free streaming
Enjoying Spotify’s free tier? Well, you might be hearing a limited selection in the near future. Digital Music News reports that the streaming service plans to offer some of its content only to paying customers. As it stands, subscribers get to skip the ads that non-paying listeners are subject to, but folks who aren’t opening their wallets still have access to the full catalog. This is the main gripe both Taylor Swift and Prince have with the company and a key reason why both of them pulled their music from the service. According to the report, the “gated access” could mean select releases won’t be available unless you’re paying for a subscription and others will only be available to listen for free for a short time. Another outcome could be that when a highly-anticipated album drops (a new Kayne record, for example) subscribers will get full access while free accounts can only listen to a few tracks. The exact details of the premium-only offerings are said to still be in the works.
Why is Spotify doing this now? The Digital Music News report also explains that Spotify’s licensing deals with the three major labels (Sony, Universal and Warner Bros.) are up for renewal on October 1st and new agreements have yet to be signed. If Spotify wants to continue offer a catalog of over 30 million songs, it may have to cave to the demands of labels in order to keep its massive catalog intact. If it does plan on offering subscriber-only content, the company hopes to convert some of those 55 million users to paying customers. A lot of folks will probably look for a free option elsewhere or be content with reduced access. We’ve reached out to Spotify for a comment on the matter and we’ll update this post when/if we hear back.
[Image credit: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic]
Filed under:
Portable Audio/Video, Internet
Via:
Fact Magazine
Source:
Digital Music News
Tags: audio, music, musicstreaming, spotify, streaming
Virtual reality video project will immerse you in space
Virtual reality is big on immersing you in cool new environments, and what’s cooler than space? Nothing, if you ask SpaceVR. It’s crowdfunding a project that will send a 12-camera video array to the International Space Station, where it’ll record 360-degree VR videos from the Cupola Observatory (shown above) and other parts of the ISS. The plan is to offer new footage each week as part of a subscription service — as the team explains, it’s like Netflix for space fans. If the effort proves successful, you might even see footage of spacewalks and other outside-the-station events.
You’ll only need Google Cardboard to start watching (SpaceVR also promises support for dedicated VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive), but you will need to make a significant pledge to get the content itself. You’ll want to plunk down $75 or more to get at least 3 months of access, and $100 if you need Cardboard at the same time. If you want a full year, it’ll take $250. Look at it this way, though: for now, this is the closest you’ll get to visiting space without paying through the nose for a trip.
Filed under:
Home Entertainment, Transportation, HD
Via:
The Verge
Source:
Kickstarter
Tags: crowdfunding, hdpostcross, internationalspacestation, iss, kickstarter, overviewone, space, spacevr, video, virtualreality, vr
OnePlus 2 will be delayed 2-3 weeks for would-be North American buyers
With devices like the ZTE Axon and Motorola Moto X Style, OnePlus’ competition in the “flagship specs, killer price” segment is fiercer than ever before. Despite this, things are actually looking really good for the flagship killer so far.
Not only did the OP2 manage to sell 30k units in China (where invites aren’t required) in just slightly over a minute, they also currently have about two million people waiting in line for a chance to buy a handset. Of course, all this demand won’t be easy to keep up with, and that’s why OnePlus has now announced that it will be delaying shipment to North American consumers.
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Those with the first batch of invite codes were supposed to be able to start ordering phones tomorrow, August 11th. While the codes will still work and you’ll still be able to buy, OnePlus says you can expect shipping to the US and Canada to “commence 2-3 weeks after shipments to Europe”. Providing European shipments start right away, that means you’re probably looking at about a half to a full month before the OP2 hits.
For those that planned on buying a OP2 right away with an invite, does this at all change your plans? Or are you more than willing to wait a bit longer for what looks to be one of the best affordable smartphones on the market?
Piper NV Security Camera review
Security cameras for the purpose of home automation are becoming more and more popular with devices available like the Netatmo Welcome or the Nest Cam. The Piper NV is yet another security camera that can be controlled with your mobile device.
Many smart home cameras are lacking in a lot of areas but Piper claims its NV to be top-of-the-line when it comes to automated home surveillance.
Design and Hardware
The Piper NV comes in a white or black finish. The design is unique in that it takes on a more traditional style of a security camera over what seems to be the usual utilitarian design.
Around the front the Piper NV has a 3.4MP HD video camera equipped with night vision and a 180-degree field of view.
It also features a microphone and speaker. As far as sensors go, the Piper NV has sensors for motion, ambient light, temperature, and humidity. On the more unique side of things, the Piper NV is actually equipped with a 105 decibel siren which functions as intended. It’s loud and annoying!
The Piper NV comes with a metal stand, giving the security camera a more durable foundation than just its plastic body.
Finally, the device is powered by your traditional wall outlet. As a second option, the Piper NV comes with three AA batteries and will operate off of that, too.
Software
The Piper NV has an Android and iOS application, allowing you to arm and disarm the camera. It also lets you save custom alerts and watch a live recording on a single or four-way panel.
Additionally, the Piper NV lets watch your saved clips for free, something many top-of-the-line home automation security cameras are lacking. You can also add Z-Wave devices, such as smart outlets, thermostats, door locks, and so on.
The Android app is full of the aforementioned features and more. Despite this, the Piper app is extremely lightweight, efficient, and it’s all put together in an elegant package.
Setup
Setup is extremely easy. It can take you as little as two minutes to get the Piper NV up and running if you don’t run into complications. Setup is as simple as plugging in the power and entering in your WiFi credentials.
A smart switch and a window sensor came with my model, and the setup was a seamless process. Just open up the Controls tab in the app and the software wizard will take you through the process of setting your Z-Wave devices up.
Additionally, you can setup custom rules for Home, Away, and Vacation mode, choosing whether the Piper NV records video clips, sounding the siren, sends notifications to your circle of approved friends, and so on.
Surprisingly, the 105 decibel siren works extremely well, as it is very loud and annoying. However, it doesn’t have much of a purpose beyond alerting you (if you have the custom rules set up properly) and trying to scare off intruders.
Video Quality
I was pleasantly surprised to see how well Night Vision worked. It was very clear from a distance. Unfortunately, it wasn’t bad or good up close, but still worked fairly well. This is all thanks to the Piper NV’s upgraded 3.4MP sensor which is actually a significant upgrade from the previous model’s 2MP camera.
Video recorded during the day was much more clear and crisp to no surprise. If bandwidth is an issue in regard to video quality, there is an option to reduce the camera’s streaming resolution.
Conclusion
The Piper NV is a solid security camera for your smart home. It was prompt in sending me emails, texts, and calls for different rules and triggers I set up. Coming in at $199, it’s a quality and cheap solution to equip your home with.
The single downside to the camera is that it seems to only record 35 seconds of a triggered event and that probably has a lot to do with the option to watch your saved videos without any additional charges.
Either way, the Piper NV is an impressive smart home security camera and more. A lot of value is added to it in that it functions as a Z-Wave hub, too. It makes it totally worth the $200.
Come comment on this article: Piper NV Security Camera review
[TA Deals] Get a lifetime subscription to TigerVPN Lite for just $29
Virtual private networks (or VPNs) are capable of allowing you to browse the web privately and securely. Even for those not paranoid about all of the potential risks floating around online today, a VPN can be extremely useful because it forgoes any geographical restrictions applied by many services. What do I mean by this? It’s possible to stream content from any service anywhere in the world as long as you have a wireless connection.
Through Talk Android Deals, you can pick up a lifetime subscription to TigerVPN Lite at a steep discount.
TigerVPN Lite offers the following:
- Provides top-notch security
- Encrypts all your browsing w/ a 256bit SSL encryption
- Includes 10Gbps servers optimized to limit latency globally
- Offers access to 15 nodes: Amsterdam, Atlanta, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Denver, Frankfurt, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Miami, Montreal, New York, Toronto, Vienna & Zurich
- Doesn’t limit your data; plus bandwidth health detection maintains performance at peak times
- Includes easy-to-use mobile apps
- Allows for a choice in encryption protocol – PPTP, L2TP, OpenVPN, etc.
TigerVPN Lite works with Windows, OS X, Android, and iOS devices.
The lifetime subscription would usually set you back nearly $800; however, Talk Android Deals has slashed that price down to $29.
What’s better than saving hundreds of dollars on something that will last forever?
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OnePlus 2 gets delayed by several weeks in North America
Unfortunately for anyone interested in purchasing a OnePlus 2 in the US or Canada, it looks like the first shipments of the device will be delays by 2 to 3 weeks after they begin shipping in Europe. Production schedules will prevent the device from being ready for shipment any earlier.
On the bright side, this shipping delay won’t affect being able to actually purchase a device. You can still use an invite to buy a OnePlus 2 on August 11th, you’ll just have to wait a little longer than the rest of the world until you actually get it in hand.
Does this have any affect on if you were going to buy a OnePlus 2?
source: OnePlus
Come comment on this article: OnePlus 2 gets delayed by several weeks in North America
Cheap tablets: what to avoid, what to look for
Buying an affordable tablet? Let us just say you are stepping into dangerous territory. The low-to-mid-end tablet market is full of devices, but so many of them will make you regret your investment, as small as it may be.
That’s not to say there’s no good options out there when it comes to cheap tablets. In fact, we’ve seen plenty of good cheap tablets, but you will need to be able to identify them accurately, and that is why we are here today. In this guide we will show you what to look for, what to avoid and what you can expect out of these affordable tablets.
Read also: Best Android tablets (July 2015)
Make sure the tablet comes with Google Apps pre-installed!
There’s a plethora of cheap tablets out there, and surely they manage to reach that lower price point by making some sacrifices. That’s OK when the tablet is simply a little slower or the screen is of lower resolution. We get it, but there’s no reason to take things as far as dismissing the inclusion of Google Apps support.
And the problem is not exactly that you don’t have Gmail, Google Search and all those apps. You could just download them (or an alternative), right? Wrong! The problem here is that the Google Play Store is one of these Google Apps, and at this point the official application market is imperative.
Seriously, you are more than likely to have a horrible time using a tablet if you can’t get Google Play Store access. Sure, some of these pads may have other app markets, including Amazon’s, but those are simply not the same. Save yourself some trouble and go for a Google Apps-supported affordable tablet. There are plenty!
Affordable tablets don’t have to be dreadfully slow
I often see people buying super cheap tablets with specs that make me think we are back in 2010. Guys, affordable tablets don’t have to perform badly. We are at a point where technology can be more than usable even at lower price points.
Let’s give you some examples: The ASUS MeMO Pad 8 comes with a 1.33 GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3745 processor and 1 GB of RAM. The Acer Iconia Tab is not bad either, sporting a 1.83 Intel Atom Z3745G quad-core SoC and 2 GB of RAM. Alternatively, the LG G Pad F 8.0 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset and 1 GB of RAM.
As you can see, all of these tablets come with well-known processors. They don’t have the specs of your dreams, but they will take care of most tasks just fine.
Take a good look at the display
Buying an affordable tablet usually means having to sacrifice on the display department. Because specs are usually sub-par and resources are limited, you will have to say goodbye to high definitions. The truth is you don’t always need super high resolution panels to get a good viewing experience, though. There’s other factors that come into play, such as contrast, brightness, color reproduction and more.
This is definitely something you will want to look into before you buy a cheaper tablet. I am personally fond of the Acer Iconia Tab 8 display. This gadget is only $179.99 and the screen resolution is fair at 1920 x 1200p. That’s not what makes its screen great, though, it’s the vivid colors and bright lighting that really take it to another level. Likewise, LG’s and Samsung’s lower-end tablets are also known for their good displays.
You will often have to deal with slow updates and older software
One of my main gripes about affordable tablets is how much manufacturers tend to ignore them after some months of their release. And this seems to be especially the case for tablets, as opposed to phones, as companies have been doing great with keeping budget phones up-to-date lately. Either way, just make sure you keep in mind that updates will usually come in slower (if they come) when you purchase a budget tablet.
The best advice we can give you is to go with a larger manufacturer that will be more likely to continue supporting your device. Also, try to buy the newest budget tablets, if this is a big deal to you.
Make sure to see how old its current software is. You will often find that some affordable devices will still have Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or something insane like that. There is really no excuse for that to happen at this point.
Watch out for bad battery life!
This is a big one, considering most of us place high value on battery life. I have often seen people buy those $50 tablets, which seem to work well for a while, but don’t you dare unplug that thing! Some horror stories tell us about the occasional tablet lasting an hour on a full charge.
Of course, this is not the case with all affordable tablets, and I am sure it’s not a similar experience for most customers. The point is battery life is important, so try to find some reviews to see about how portable your new device really is.
Keep an eye on the brand
We are not really telling you to go with the big guys all the time, but there’s a certain sense of security you get from sticking with a larger manufacturer. You know they will try harder to deliver their promises, not to mention the fact that they will usually have better support and superior customer care.
We are past the point when tablets are over-priced. Even the big guys have to be able to keep up with the competition, which is brutal right now. With that said, just keep in mind that Samsung, LG, Acer and some other main players do have great affordable offerings. Also, look into the Xiaomi MiPad, if you can get a hold of one in your market. That device has stunning specs and only costs RM 799 (about $204 USD).
Forget about the camera
Many of you can attest to the fact that tablet cameras are no good most of the time. And this also applies to high-end tablet shooter. Photo quality is just not usually a priority when building a tablet, as they are usually meant for casual usage (video chatting, simple shots, etc.). Odds are your tablet camera will be average, at best.
Conclusion
I have always said that an affordable device doesn’t have to be a cheap one, especially in today’s market. We have great options to choose from, so try and do some good research before you hand out all that hard-earned cash.
Those are the main tips and suggestions we can give you, so now you are on the right track. I have used plenty of mid-end tablets that offer a great experience, including the ones i mentioned in the article (Acer Iconia Tab 8, ASUS MeMO Pad 8 and LG G Pad F 8.0).
Now it’s time to take it to the comments section! What can you guys tell us about your experiences buying affordable tablets? Any horror stories? Are there any other tablets you would recommend to the budget conscious? Also, what other tips can you give your fellow readers?
Be sure to also check out our own list of some of the best cheap tablets on the market!
AIVAnet 