Snap makes your Android widgets reachable from any app
Android’s widgets are certainly helpful, but you have to duck out to your home screen (where they also consume valuable real estate) to see them. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just take a quick glance? You can, with the right tools. Francisco Barroso’s Snap lets you stuff widgets into a notification bar drawer, where they’re accessible from any app. It’s a bit like iOS’ Today view, only more customizable — if you want a giant, always-available Flipboard widget, you can make it happen. Snap is free if you only need quick access to three widgets, and it’ll cost you a modest $2 to remove that cap.
Via: The Next Web
Source: Francisco Barroso Apps, Google Play
Scientists solve the urinal pee splash-back conundrum
What a urinal gives in size, convenience and quantity, it takes away in bouncing droplets of hot piss back onto your trousers and shoes. Researchers at Utah State University are hoping to remedy the problem that makes everyone think that you have a bladder control issue by redesigning the urinal cake to end splash back. The university’s famous Splash Lab, led by Dr. Tadd Truscott, has developed a new device that’s being called a “black hole for urine,” an idea that’s 100 percent better than The League’s pee bib. After looking at all of the various existing urinal insert technology that’s floating around, the team looked to nature for inspiration.
Source: APS, Abstract (.PDF)
The best immersion blender
By Christine Cyr Clisset
This post was done in partnership with The Sweethome, a buyer’s guide to the best things for your home. Read the full article here.
After putting in more than 20 hours researching immersion blenders, considering 54 models, interviewing two soup-making pros, and then testing nine blenders over nearly three years, we’re confident that you can’t buy a better immersion blender than the Breville Control Grip. In our tests it produced smoother textures than almost any other model we tried. Smart design features, such as a grippy handle, a no-suction gasket, and a wider range of speeds, make it far easier to use than the competition.
Microsoft’s Holiday Ad Spreads Message of Peace Outside Apple’s 5th Avenue Store
In the spirit of the holiday season, Microsoft today released a new ad that focuses on calling for peace between the company and its public rival, Apple. The 60-second advertisement sees Microsoft employees making their way from the company’s new Fifth Avenue store in New York City over to Apple’s flagship store to share a festive carol with the Apple employees and others.
The ad’s event took place on November 16, with Microsoft employees from around the country joining together in New York City — along with a local NYC children’s youth choir — to sing “Let There Be Peace On Earth” to a group of Apple workers. Microsoft had to get permission from Apple to film outside the storefront, according to AdAge, due to New York City’s strict security rules. Beginning December 3, the ad will run on television, along with the debut of a longer two minute version online.
Most of Microsoft’s messaging over the past few years has been in spots that directly compared the company’s products with its rivals’, with a focus on Apple, and listing reasons why customers would prefer the Microsoft option. Last year the company compared the Surface Pro 3 with the MacBook Air to the tune of a Christmas jingle for its main holiday commercial, so this year’s peace-centered message is definitely a departure.
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Popular Design App ‘Sketch’ Leaves Mac App Store Due to Poor Customer Experience
Bohemian Coding has announced that its popular design app Sketch is no longer available in the Mac App Store because, after a lengthy decision making process, the developers felt that directly licensing the software outside of Apple’s storefront will provide customers with a better experience.
In a blog post on its website, the Sketch team highlighted some of the Mac App Store’s limitations, including a lengthy app review process, sandboxing and no upgrade pricing. Sketch stresses this was not a knee-jerk reaction to the Mac App Store’s recent expired certificate problem, but that issue did compound the situation.
Sketch said the Mac App Store’s customer experience has not progressed like its iOS counterpart:
We’ve been considering our options for some time. Over the last year, as we’ve made great progress with Sketch, the customer experience on the Mac App Store hasn’t evolved like its iOS counterpart. We want to continue to be a responsive, approachable, and easily-reached company, and selling Sketch directly allows us to give you a better experience.
There are a number of reasons for Sketch leaving the Mac App Store—many of which in isolation wouldn’t cause us huge concern. However as with all gripes, when compounded they make it hard to justify staying: App Review continues to take at least a week, there are technical limitations imposed by the Mac App Store guidelines (sandboxing and so on) that limit some of the features we want to bring to Sketch, and upgrade pricing remains unavailable.
Sketch is among a growing number of apps that are no longer sold in the Mac App Store, including professional HTML and text editor BBEdit and web development tool Coda. By selling their apps directly, developers not only get around the Mac App Store’s technical limitations, but also do not have to split 30% of sales revenue with Apple.
Bohemian Coding has provided instructions for Mac App Store users to migrate to the directly licensed version of the app in a FAQ on its website, which is required for future software updates. The development team does not rule out a possible return to the Mac App Store “in the longer term” if the necessary changes have been made.
Moving to a direct version of Sketch does not require a re-purchase. Simply download the latest copy of Sketch here, replace the old version in your Applications folder, and we will issue you a license for Sketch absolutely free of charge. Just follow the steps in-app to complete the transfer. We will also migrate your presets and templates across, so you won’t lose any data in the process. We’ve made it as simple and painless as we possibly can.
Sketch is a professional design app for Mac for creating user interfaces, websites, icons and more. The software received an Apple Design Award in 2012 and was consistently a top ranked app on the Mac App Store. Sketch continues to sell for its regular price of $99 with a free trial available.
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OnePlus now sells iPhone cases, comes with a OnePlus X invite
OnePlus certainly isn’t shy about creating a stir and the company’s latest product is sure to raise a few more eyebrows about its decision making process. As of today, the company is now selling a protective hard case for the iPhone 6 and 6s. Yes, you read that right.
The iPhone 6s case has a price tag set at $19.99 (£15.99), which places it in a similar bracket to OnePlus’ other accessories. OnePlus is also throwing in an invite to purchase an OnePlus X as part of the package, although sadly the case won’t also fit your new OnePlus handset. To sweeten the offer, some of the cases also include a code to grab an OnePlus X for completely free, while there are invites to purchase the limited edition ceramic version of the phone floating around as well.
OnePlus X in video:
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The case comes in the company’s signature Sandstone Black color, complete with an OnePlus logo on the back. There is also a nice little “Get a grip. #NeverSettle” message left on the inside, just to remind you to make use of that invite that you essentially bought.
This might not be OnePlus’ weirdest or most controversial advertising effort so far, but it’s certainly up there. I doubt that there will be many takers for its iPhone case?
Next: Best OnePlus 2 cases
AT&T now has a 64GB Galaxy S6 Active
Unlike the Galaxy S4 Active which saw an international release, or even the Galaxy S5 Active which saw two variants, the S6 Active has been an exclusive venture for Samsung and AT&T. Despite initial rumors that suggested the S6 Active would have microSD card support, the product that was produced doesn’t. This had, until now, meant that customers interested in the rugged smartphone needed to make due with just 32GB of on-board storage. Until now.
AT&T has just put up a 64GB variant of the Galaxy S6 Active for sale. It retails for $649.99 for those interested in purchasing the device off-contract. Alternatively, a 2-year carrier agreement will drop the price down to $299.99, and those qualified and interested in purchasing via AT&T Next can have the phone for installments of $23.17 per month.
See also: Samsung Galaxy S6 Active review
For those in need of a recap, the S6 Active has essentially the same specs as Samsung’s Galaxy S6, but with a few improvements. It packs a 5.1-inch QHD Super AMOLED display, an Exynos 7420 SoC, 3GB of RAM, a 16-megapixel rear camera (no optical image stabilization) and a 5-megapixel front camera. Aside from being a thoroughly rugged device and water resistant, the phone also makes use of a 3,500 mAh battery to supplement its substance.
The S6 Active is sold in Grey, Camo White, and Camo Black and all three are now available in 64GB configurations.
Google releases new ‘Arts & Culture’ app for Android devices
Google’s newly released Arts & Culture application aims to better education.
Arts & Culture lets students explore artifacts and famous pieces of art from hundreds of museums around the globe all in one free application. Students can browse through some of history’s most ancient artifacts with just a swipe. With each piece, students can read a short and detailed description on what it is they’re looking at. The app also lets students zoom in on images for a more in-depth look.
One of the great things about Arts & Culture is the ability to insert 360 degree tours of famous landmarks and museums near you. Google has also added in a bit of fun with its built-in scavenger hunt. Hidden gems are placed throughout the app and users can collect them to learn some extra facts. One can try the new app by heading to the download link included below.
Come comment on this article: Google releases new ‘Arts & Culture’ app for Android devices
Google’s new Chrome implementation lets users save up to 70% more data
As you may have noticed, inside Google Chrome’s mobile settings, there’s an option for data saving. This has the power to reduce all data used on Chrome by 50%. With a new implementation, Google has been able to increase the savings to a whopping 70%.
Great news for Chrome users! If you regularly check which apps use your cellular data, you might notice a significant change on Google Chrome in the future. Unfortunately, the feature is not available just yet, and not everyone will be getting it. Google stated that the rollout of the new feature will begin with India and Indonesia. The feature will only work on the Android version of the Chrome browser and will cease to work on any other platform at this time.
In case you’re wondering how this works, Google has made it possible to detect whether your internet connection is good or bad. If a user’s connection is poor, Chrome will make the detection and pop-up a notice before loading up all the on-screen images. You can check out exactly how this works in an animated image visible at the official source link down below.
Source: Google
Come comment on this article: Google’s new Chrome implementation lets users save up to 70% more data
ICYMI: E-paper kicks, robot directions via thought and more
Today on In Case You Missed It: Shiftwear wants to change your shoe game with color e-paper screens that can move and shift into beautiful pictures on the sneakers you’re wearing. It’s too early to tell whether they will fund; or look as good as they do in the online video. There’s also a nail-art printer if you’re in the mood to spend a lot of money on something temporary.
AIVAnet 