Verizon announces WiFi calling for the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge
Not that Verizon has issues with connectivity, as it is has fantastic coverage in the U.S., there are times when you might need to make a call over WiFi if your signal has dropped out.
Starting December 8th, Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge users on Verizon will get an over the air update which will enable voice and video calls over WiFi. The selection is highly limited now, but Verizon has plans to expand compatibility to more Android and iOS devices in early 2016. All calls made within the U.S. are free of charge, and international calls are billed at international long distance rates. Prices vary according to each country.
How to Get Advanced Calling with Wi-Fi Calling
- To activate Wi-Fi Calling on Android, customers must first download and install the latest software update and turn on Advanced Calling from the settings menu.
- Once Advanced Calling is enabled, customers can activate Wi-Fi Calling.
- When a customer uses Advanced Calling on Verizon’s 4G LTE network and travels outside of coverage, the call will seamlessly transfer to a known Wi-Fi hotspot when available.
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500px for Android gets the Material Design treatment
Popular photo sharing website 500px has just begun rolling out a rather attractive update for its official Android client via the Play Store. The upgrade brings a much-needed Material Design overhaul to the application, in addition to a new gallery feature, which makes it easier than ever to view collections of images.
To install the update on your Android-powered smartphone simply open up the Play Store, toggle the hamburger menu by swiping in from the left-hand side of the screen, select ‘My Apps’ and click on 500px, then tap the update button. Alternatively, you can hit the link below to initiate the download on your handset from the Web.
Come comment on this article: 500px for Android gets the Material Design treatment
Several Rovio games on Amazon Underground managed to triple revenue for developer
Amazon Underground has been gaining momentum since launch, and even big name developers can stand to benefit from putting their games on the service. Rovio, for example, published several big titles to Amazon Underground, including Angry Birds Rio, Angry Birds Stella, Angry Birds Space, and Bad Piggies, and saw their revenue triple for those titles just by being on Amazon Underground.
While Amazon makes the apps (and their in-app purchases) free for users, it also reimburses developers for every minute that the apps are used. That means that Rovio made some money off of users that probably wouldn’t have purchased anything to begin with, which is a pretty big deal in a time when monetizing mobile apps is extremely difficult.
Now to keep things in perspective, these apps tripled their revenue compared to what was previously being made in Amazon’s own App Store. That doesn’t include the revenue from the Play Store and Apple’s App Store, both of which are certainly bigger pools than Amazon’s fairly limited storefront. But Amazon’s Kindle ecosystem makes up a big enough portion of the pie that it was still probably a fairly profitable move for Rovio to make, and it might entice other developers to follow suit.
source: Amazon
Come comment on this article: Several Rovio games on Amazon Underground managed to triple revenue for developer
NASA plans to ‘move out’ of the ISS on its way to the Moon
During a meeting with NASA’s advisory panel, William Gerstenmaier (the agency’s chief of human spaceflight) has pretty much confirmed that the agency isn’t working on a successor to the ISS. NASA isn’t even thinking of funding the current one beyond 2024 (2028 at the latest), because its new primary goal is to bring humans to the moon’s orbit a.k.a. cislunar space. “We’re going to get out of ISS as quickly as we can,” Gerstenmaier said, according to Ars Technica. “Whether it gets filled in by the private sector or not, NASA’s vision is we’re trying to move out.” The agency has no choice but to leave low Earth orbit (LEO) behind, because it can’t afford funding both projects at the same time.
NASA is apparently hoping for the private sector — the same space companies ferrying supplies to the ISS — to take its place in low Earth orbit. But since the agency can’t help or force them to make an ISS 2.0, it’s now telling companies to take advantage of microgravity research while it’s still shouldering most of the costs of sending studies to the space station. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden is even trying to convince the government to give tax incentives to companies that ask them to test materials or products in zero-g.
The agency’s move to cislunar space doesn’t come as a surprise: NASA has been talking about taking us farther out into space until we reach Mars for a long time. In fact, its new gargantuan rocket (the Space Launch System) could fly to the lunar orbit with four crew members aboard the Orion capsule as soon as 2021.
[Image credit: jaycatalano/Flickr]
Via: Fast Company
Source: Ars Technica
PlayStation launches brand new Messenger application for Android
Sony has just released its standalone PlayStation Messages application for Android. The app makes it extremely easy to send messages to other members of the PlayStation community using either a smartphone or tablet.
With regards to its appearance, the application looks pretty similar to Facebook’s popular instant messaging service. There are tabbed menus at the top of the display for navigating through inboxes, and even an array of stickers, which are pretty entertaining.
Come comment on this article: PlayStation launches brand new Messenger application for Android
Google slashes the price of the Huawei Watch by $50
Google has slashed the price of Huawei’s smartwatch on its online store. The device carries a retail price of $499 for the silver model and $579 for the black variant. However, once a $50 discount has been applied at checkout, the cost will drop down to $449 and $529, respectively.
Just in case you need a refresher on its specifications, the Huawei Watch features a 1.4-inch 400 x 400 pixel AMOLED display, a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and a 300mAh battery. It also sports a gyroscope, accelerometer, heart rate sensor and barometer.
Source: Google Store
Come comment on this article: Google slashes the price of the Huawei Watch by $50
Age of Empires: World Domination launches on the Play Store in select countries
Microsoft’s Age of Empires: World Domination is finally seeing a launch on Google’s Play Store, although only in a few countries at first. The app is free to play and has many real time strategy elements, much like the original AoE installments.
World Domination was developed by KLab Games and has a ton of features in tow, including limitless customization, over 100 heroes, and what’s supposedly a well-designed interface and control scheme to take advantage of touch screens. That last part is important, as I can’t really imagine that playing an older Age of Empires game would be fun on a 5-inch touchscreen.
The description for the game makes it seem like it’s going back to what started Age of Empires’ timeless real time strategy experience, as opposed to the newer Clash of Clans style strategy game that’s so popular now. Unfortunately for most of us, it’ll be awhile before we can actually find out, since the game is only launching in select countries at first. I’ve personally been unable to download the game on any of my Android devices in the US, but hopefully that changes sooner rather than later.
Hit the link below to check out some screenshots and video of the game, and a link to see if you’re able to download it yet.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Come comment on this article: Age of Empires: World Domination launches on the Play Store in select countries
America’s first penile transplants will be for war veterans
Arms and legs aren’t the only appendages that American servicemen lose to IEDs but, thanks to a pioneering surgical technique, injured soldiers will soon have the option of replacing their war-damaged wedding tackle. A team of surgeons from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine announced on Sunday that within a year (more likely, just a few months) their facility will begin performing penis transplants. American veterans will be their first patients.
“These genitourinary injuries are not things we hear about or read about very often,” Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee, chairman of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Johns Hopkins, told the NY Times. “I think one would agree it is as devastating as anything that our wounded warriors suffer, for a young man to come home in his early 20s with the pelvic area completely destroyed.”
According to the Department of Defense, more than 1,300 servicemen sustained some form of genital trauma between 2011 and 2013. And while prosthetic penises are now a thing, they don’t restore the full range of function that a donor member would. Similarly, crafting a replacement from the patient’s own cells is possible, but still about 5 years out from being practical. Even the reattachment procedure itself is wrought with peril. The team estimates that each surgery will take over 12 hours to complete and, should anything not work, feel or look quite right, the psychological damage could be enormous.
Via: Washington Post
Source: New York Times
Apple Maps Now Used Three Times More Than Google Maps on iPhone
When Apple Maps first debuted alongside iOS 6, it drew significant criticism for its inaccuracies in mapping data, errors when locating points of interest, lack of transit information and odd 3D mapping imagery. Many users opted not to upgrade to iOS 6 due to the app’s flaws, and iOS 6 adoption jumped 29 percent once Google released a native Maps app for Apple’s platform. Three years later, Apple tells the Associated Press that Apple Maps is now used three times more than Google Maps on iPhone.
Apple says its mapping service is now used more than three times as often as its next leading competitor on iPhones and iPads, with more than 5 billion map-related requests each week. Research firm comScore says Apple has a modest lead over Google on iPhones in the U.S., though comScore measures how many people use a service in a given month rather than how often.
While a lot of the usage gains for Apple Maps can be attributed to Apple Maps being a built-in app that’s the default mapping solution for features like Siri and Mail and third-party apps like Yelp, the AP notes that many users who once spurned by Apple Maps have returned. Additionally, many new iPhone users did not experience the troubles of Apple Maps, instead using the newer, more improved version.
Although Apple now holds the lead in mapping on iOS, Google still dominates among all U.S. smartphone owners, with Google Maps having two times more users than Apple Maps. However, much of this is attributed to Apple Maps only being available on iOS while Google Maps is available on both Android and iOS.
In recent years, Apple has made numerous efforts to improve its mapping service. Apple has purchased companies like GPS firm Coherent Navigation and mapping company Placeable in addition to expanding its in-house teams and making data-sharing deals with companies like Foursquare. The Cupertino company has also beefed up Apple Maps with a fleet of mapping vehicles capturing data and introducing new features like Transit directions and, in the future, indoor mapping.
In total, Apple now gets data “from more than 3,000 sources” for business listings, traffic and more. For its new Transit features, Apple even sent out teams to map out subway entrances and signs.
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PlayStation launches a messaging app for your phone
In a world of WhatsApp, Line, SMS, Facebook Messenger and all the rest we can’t fit into an intro paragraph, there’s a space for very specific messenger apps. Maybe. Sony’s launched a companion companion PlayStation app, available now on iOS and Android, that lets you talk to anyone on your PSN friends list. PlayStation Messages does only that — you’ll need the full PlayStation app to explore new releases, PS4 news and anything to do with your PSN account. However, like Facebook and its messenger app, you’ll be able to jump between your PS apps through tabs. Useful features include the ability to see who’s already online at a glance (before you’re even home and warming up your console), as well as being able to send voice messages, as well as text and stickers to friends or groups of up to 100 players. And if you’re looking for more game-messaging options, there’s also that dedicated Twitch messaging app. Spoilt for choice
Via: @Wario64 (Twitter)
Source: PlayStation Messages (iTunes), (Google Play), PlayStation (Japanese)
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