Recommended Reading: Marvel’s ‘Jessica Jones’ is a different kind of hero
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you’ll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read.
Marvel’s Astounding ‘Jessica Jones’ Rewrites the Definition of Superhuman
Mary McNamara,
Los Angeles Times
Marvel’s Jessica Jones is now streaming on Netflix, and to properly prep for your marathon viewing season, take a look at a review from the Los Angeles Times. We’ve all heard the details about how this series differs from previous Marvel shows and movies, but it looks like what makes this show unique is also what makes it so good. Plus, we get a look at Luke Cage before he his own series.
These are the robots taking our jobs
Robots have been helping out around the house for decades, but now that they’ve been at it for a while, they’re almost ready to be deployed into the work force. It’s a trial period really and these new synthetic staffers aren’t always well-suited to the vocation they’ve ended up in. Still, they can be found working anywhere from the likes of the kitchen, to the hospitality industry and even testing the waters of super stardom. How’s this all going to work out? It’s too early to tell, but we’ve prepared a focus group so you can decide for yourself.
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Get in shape with Google Fit
Software has come a long way in a short time, and our expectations are changing as we have access to incredibly well developed software. One of the best features to come with apps developed by Google is that they are free. Google offers free unlimited storage for high-resolution photos, document editors, maps, GPS, email and they even offer free software to help get you into shape.
That software is called Google Fit. Old habits die hard, as the number one New Years Resolution for 2015 was to get in shape, stay in shape and to lose weight. Many of us want to stay healthy for our children and family, want to look better and want to feel better. In order to do that we need to exercise and stay active.
Google is doing its part by offering free software to help us manage our health and to encourage us to exercise more. The excuses are running out when it comes to remembering to exercise, as fitness is just an app away.
Getting started with Google Fit
The first to-do item is to download the Google Fit app onto your Android smartphone by clicking here. If you don’t have a Google account, you need to create one in order to use the app. You can go to the Google sign-up page and get your free account which will keep track of your personal information.
Once the app is downloaded sign in with your account. Don’t worry if you don’t have an Android Wear device yet – you can simply carry your Android smartphone around with you to keep track of your activities. The Google Fit app will start tracking your activities instantly and will keep track of the data which can be viewed at https://www.google.com/fit/ when signed in.
You can fill out profile information like your height, weight, and gender, and set a personal fitness goal. To see the distance you’ve gone and how many calories you’ve burned, you’ll need to fill out your height, weight, and gender. Once you’ve filled out your physical information, you’re on your way to getting and staying healthy. Check out what Google Fit can do for you. (Google Fit help)
Enter your physical information
- Open the Google Fit app
.
- Touch Menu
> Settings.
- Enter your height, weight, and gender.
You can change which units Google Fit displays for weight, height, and distance. Touch Menu
Set a personal fitness goal
You can track your progress towards activity goals using Google Fit.
You can set daily goals for:
- Steps: How many steps you want to take.
- Active time: How much time you want to spend being active.
- Distance: The distance you want to walk, run, or bike.
- Calories: The number of calories you want to burn.
You’ll have a default goal to be active for one hour a day when you first get started with Fit. The app will show you a progress update. After you’ve tracked your activity for a few days, you’ll also see recommendations for future goals.
Change a personal fitness goal:
- Open the Google Fit app
- Touch Menu
- Touch the active goal.
- Enter your updated goal and touch Save.
What you can measure
When you record an activity, most of the time you can see estimates of:
- Time: How long you did a specific activity.
- Steps: How many steps you took.
- Calories: How many calories you burned.
- Distance: How far you walked or ran. This feature doesn’t work with stationary biking right now.
- Weight: How your weight changes over time. You’ll have to enter your weight manually to track it.
Note: To see the distance you’ve gone or how many calories you’ve burned, you’ll need to fill out your height, weight, and gender.
For the most accurate biking detection, carry your phone in your pocket when you’re riding rather than mounted or in a backpack.
Set goals for daily steps
You can set goals around how many steps you want to take every day. You can then check your watch to see how close you are to reaching your goal.
Your watch comes preset with a goal of 10,000 steps. To change the goal:
- If your screen is dim, touch the screen to wake up the watch.
- Touch anywhere on the background of the screen. You’ll see a white screen with a red “g.”
- Touch again anywhere on the screen to see a menu of things you can do.
- Touch Show me my steps.
- Swipe from ← right to left until you find the menu.
- Scroll down and touch Daily step goal.
- Scroll and touch the goal you want.
Use Fit on Android Wear devices
Google Fit comes preinstalled on most Android Wear watches, but not all of them. To check if it’s already installed, swipe from right to left on your watch and look for Fit in your list of apps. If you don’t have it, you can get the app from Google Play.
You’ll get the most out of Google Fit on your Android Wear watch when you install the Google Fit app on your mobile phone or tablet (available only on Android). But you can also use it on your Android Wear watch without installing Google Fit on your phone or tablet (iOS or Android).
Start a fitness activity for real-time stats
You can see real-time stats for your activities, such as pace during a run. Fit will use your GPS and other sensors to track your activity.
To start an activity:
- Open the Google Fit app
- Touch
> Start activity
.
- Select the activity you’re about to start.
Note: the workout information is automatically updated on every device you use Fit on. You can edit this activity later if it is not accurate.
Real-time voice updates
You can get real-time voice alerts of your distance and pace for runs, bike rides, and other distance-based activities. For example, Fit can tell you your pace every mile.
To select the frequency of voice alerts:
- Open the Google Fit app
- Touch Menu
- Choose your settings.
Note: You can also toggle the announcements on and off during the activity by touching the speaker icon 
Track your weight
You’re also able to track your weight with Google Fit and see how it changes over time. See how to add a weight measurement below, or connect to one of our partner weight tracking apps.
- Open the Google Fit app
- Touch the Add an Activity button
.
- Select Log your weight
.
Note: You can’t delete a weight measurement on Fit at this time.
Sync other apps with Fit to to show activity, nutrition, sleep and more
If you already use mobile apps to track your fitness, nutrition, or sleep, you can give them permission to share information with Google Fit. That way, you can keep all of your wellness data in one place. To see all of the apps you can connect to Fit, check out google.com/fit.
If they’re compatible, your other fitness apps will give you with the option to pair with Fit so you can see all your fitness data in one place.
To see apps you have connected to Fit and find apps to add:
- Open the Google Fit app
- Touch Menu
- Find apps to connect using the drop down menu
.
If you don’t want your other apps to share data with Fit, you can just disconnect them. You can disconnect apps from Fit using the Google Settings app.
View your daily progress
You can view your daily fitness progress on Fit including how many steps you’ve taken, how long your bike ride lasted, and how close you are to reaching your daily goals.
- For today: You can see fitness tracking for the current day at the top of the homepage on the Fit app or website.
- For a previous day: Scroll down the homepage or app to view information about a previous day’s activity.
To see more detailed tracking information like graphs and activity breakouts, find the activity or daily summary you want in your activity feed and click or touch it.
Google Fit is definitely worth a try today
If you want to get in shape or to stay in shape, give Google Fit a try today. It’s never too late to get started. Your loved ones with appreciate it and you’ll feel better too. Don’t wait for the new year to get started, take a step forward today. Anyone can get in shape. Make it easier on yourself with Google Fit.
Huawei Watch Android Wear
LG Urbane Android Wear
Moto 360 2 Android Wear
ASUS ZenWatch 2 Android Wear
Google Play Store – Google Fit link
Google Fit Help
The post Get in shape with Google Fit appeared first on AndroidGuys.
AT&T offering Galaxy View LTE tablet for $30/mo or $500 with 2-yr contract
Starting this holiday season, AT&T is giving you the chance to become the proud owner of one of the largest Android devices on the market: the Samsung Galaxy View. They’re even giving you two ways to pay: you can fork over $30 a month for 20 months, or you can pay $500 up front and use the device on a qualifying plan with a 2 year contract. The device’s retail value is $600.
See also: AT&T has the Samsung Galaxy View LTE in its sights, releases November 20th
The Samsung Galaxy View tablet is a well named device, since it’s (some say ‘needlessly’) gigantic screen allows you to view actual galaxies at full size. This is probably a mild hyperbole. Galaxies span hundreds of thousands of light years, but the Galaxy View spans virtually no light years at 18.4 inches.
Nevertheless, as far as tablets go, the Galaxy View is a monster in size. Samsung claims that the device stands to bridge the gap between your tablet and your television, but this may have been one of those gaps that didn’t need bridging. The jury is still out.
Clearly a niche product, the Galaxy View is a stream machine. AT&T advertises it as “the ultimate mobile video experience.” With a screen this large and vibrant, it truly is an immersive device worthy of couch-nestled binging. With the LTE capability, you can take your binging with you – at least in theory. Since the Galaxy View is so large, many owners may find it a bit too cumbersome to schlep about on the go. Calling it a mobile video experience may be a stretch.
WATCH US GO HANDS ON WITH THE SAMSUNG GALAXY VIEW
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Sound like a good deal to you? Or will you be passing? Let us know in the comments!
ICYMI: Buzzing blind guide, lab-grown voice and more
Today on In Case You Missed It: Doctor’s used bioengineering to grow fresh vocal cords that they say sound just like the real thing. Haptic feedback headbands are helping to guide sight-disabled people with buzzing when an obstacle is present. And a collaborative synthesizer from London lets four people control a device, jamming out electronically, together.
EFF’s new website keeps an eye on social media censorship
Facebook, Instagram and other social media websites had been in hot water many, many times in the past for purging content other users deem inappropriate. In order to pinpoint the exact reasons for those takedowns and to determine trends in content removals, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has created a website that tracks censorship across social media outlets. The EFF has built the platform called Online Censorship along with data-driven design company Visualizing Impact. It has resources, such as articles that talk about unjust removal of posts, but it relies on user reports to gather the data it needs.
Via: PCWorld
Source: EFF, Online Censorhip
Microsoft HoloLens to provide AR demos in Volvo showrooms
Microsoft and Volvo have joined forces, thankfully not for the sake of creating a gaudy car-themed phone, but to equip the automaker’s showrooms with HoloLens headsets. Starting next year, Volvo will be able to showcase things not usually possible to demo instantly and indoors — say, its cars’ safety features, such as collision avoidance, and various possible customization options — through holograms. The two companies have recently exhibited a prototype version of the system at Microsoft’s HQ in Redmond using the upcoming S90 luxury sedan as their subject. Thanks to augmented reality, they were able to display not only holographic models of the unreleased car, but also cross sections of its parts.
Amazon’s Echo speaker wants to play games with you
Amazon seems bound and determined to not let its internet-connected wünderspeaker, the Echo, fall prey to the same fate as the Fire TV and Fire Phone. Good on Jeff Bezos for that. In case you’re already bored of the device reading you news headlines and finding restaurant info for you, now the gizmo’s Alexa app will play games and even tell you how much gas you have left in your car. Games include Bingo; trivia; simple math puzzles and even rock, paper, scissors. As Android Central points out, the automotive stuff is available via a third-party solution, dubbed Automatic, that interfaces with your car via a $100 adapter. With that, you can ask questions about how far you drove recently or what your gas gauge is sitting at. Or you could, you know, look at your instrument cluster. It’s up to you!
Source: Android Central
This fitness tracking app pays you to walk more
Having a hard time motivating yourself to exercise? What if somebody offered to pay you work out? That’s the idea behind Bitwalking — an app, digital currency and marketplace that pays its users 1BW$ (Bitwalking dollar) for every 10,000 steps they take.
Source: BBC, Bitwalking
[TA Deals] This drone is perfect for beginners at just $34
Who knew a drone could be a stocking stuffer? Right now on Talk Android Deals, we have the compact Snowflake Stealth Drone available for less than $40.
Here’s what the Snowflake Stealth Drone offers:
- 6-axis gyro technology for smooth & steady flight
- High-speed mode for outdoor racing
- 4 multi-color LED lights to navigate the night’s sky
- 2.4 technology to avoid multi-drone collision
- 4 safety-protected propellers for crash recovery
- 4CH digital proportional RC system for indoor & outdoor flight
Forget about paying hundreds of dollars just to get a little drone! The Snowflake Stealth Drone should set you back $100, but we’re selling it for $34.99 with free shipping.
Want to save on other products, too? Then use promo code EARLY10 on select items from our Early Black Friday Collection. So you can gift the Snowflake Stealth Drone and many other items while not leaving your bank account in a sad state of affairs.
Come comment on this article: [TA Deals] This drone is perfect for beginners at just $34
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