Apple News is reportedly getting subscription articles
Apple is getting ready to bring paywalled articles to its News app, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters. If true, this would signify a major change in the service, since it would provide publishers with paywalls (such as The New York Times and Wall Street Journal) a new way to display their entire content. Currently, these publications can only provide excerpts from articles to Apple News users, and the app doesn’t support account logins for subscribers. That’s very different than the full reading experience offered by free, ad-supported publishers.
As Reuters points out, making such a move would also benefit Apple tremendously. Not only would the company appease paid publications, but it would help differentiate News from other similar products — including Facebook’s Instant Articles. There are no details on how (or when) this will work within the iOS application, but something tells us we could learn more about that at Apple’s rumored March event, if not sooner.
Source: Reuters
Amazon brings one-hour Prime Now deliveries to Liverpool
After launching one-hour Prime Now deliveries in London last summer, Amazon brought the option to Birmingham, Newcastle and Manchester before year’s end. The retailer has grand plans to take the convenience to “many more cities in 2016,” today announcing Liverpool and nearby areas as the latest expansion. Customers living in eligible postcodes in Liverpool and adjacent settlements including Birkenhead can now pay £7 to have any of over 15,000 products delivered within one hour, or select a same-day, two-hour window for free.
The catch, of course, is that you need an Amazon Prime membership — currently £79 per year — to take advantage of the speedy delivery option. That may have become a slightly more attractive investment today though, with Amazon also announcing a new playlist feature for its Prime Music streaming service.
Source: Amazon
Photo contest awards $10,000 for finding ‘everyday heroes’
Attention class, it’s time to get your submissions ready for Mr. Jefferson’s “Everyday Heroes” photo contest. Well, not really, but Life is Strange publisher Square Enix is bringing the sweepstakes from its tale of a time-traveling teen into the real world. Unlike in the game, you aren’t competing for a trip to San Francisco to showcase your work. Here you’re vying for a $10,000 scholarship while you hopefully “discover and capture how normal people make the world a better place,” as a post on the Square Enix blog puts it.
The team at Dontnod will print, frame and sign a trio of finalist’s photos, in addition to sharing them across Square Enix’s social accounts. The rules state there’s only one grand prize winner taking home the $10,000 earmarked for art school tuition, art classes or art supplies (at the winner’s discretion), however. What’s more, you’ve only got one shot at your chance for glory. So maybe the Polaroid of the blue butterfly you saw land in the girl’s bathroom at Blackwell Academy may not be the best option. But, you might want to hurry considering the contest is only open through February 16th of this year.
Via: Square Enix
Source: Everyday Heroes
Amazon adds playlist ‘stations’ to Prime Music in the UK
Ten months after its US debut, Amazon is bringing Prime Stations to its music streaming cohort in Great Britain. The feature allows Prime Music listeners to launch ad-free playlists centred around an artist or genre, removing the need to queue tracks or weigh up individual recommendations. As you jam along to Amazon’s picks, you can give each song a thumbs up or thumbs down to improve and personalise the algorithm. While welcome, this is a feature that many of Amazon’s rivals have offered for years — why it’s taken so long to reach Prime Music in the UK is a mystery. Still, if you have an active Prime subscription, this should make the service a little more viable as your default streaming app.
Source: Amazon (Press Release)
Chrome’s latest tool checks your website’s security
You may never notice Chrome’s green lock showing that an HTTPS site is 100 percent secure, but developers pay rapt attention to it. That’s because Google prioritizes search results for sites with the strongest security, so a problematic site could find itself on the dreaded second page. The symbol also tells users that they’re less likely to be victims of man-in-the-middle and other “content injection” attacks. However, many operators still aren’t sure why their sites appear insecure, so Google has unveiled a security panel for DevTools in its latest version 48 of Chrome.
Each time you load a page, it will show the information for each network connection and why some are secure and others aren’t. The panel will indicate whether a security certificate is valid and if you’re using the proper connection protocol. It also flags the dreaded “mixed content” issue that arises from insecure HTTP subresources. From there, you can drill down to see which resource, exactly, is borking your page’s lock.
To use the new panel, developers just need to open up the Chrome 48 dev tools, or click on the URL lock icon and select “details.” The new version of Chrome also brings a number of bug fixes and eliminates the old and insecure RC4 encryption scheme. The stable version started rolling out yesterday and should hit most regions soon.
Source: Google
Chrome’s latest tool checks your website’s security
You may never notice Chrome’s green lock showing that an HTTPS site is 100 percent secure, but developers pay rapt attention to it. That’s because Google prioritizes search results for sites with the strongest security, so a problematic site could find itself on the dreaded second page. The symbol also tells users that they’re less likely to be victims of man-in-the-middle and other “content injection” attacks. However, many operators still aren’t sure why their sites appear insecure, so Google has unveiled a security panel for DevTools in its latest version 48 of Chrome.
Each time you load a page, it will show the information for each network connection and why some are secure and others aren’t. The panel will indicate whether a security certificate is valid and if you’re using the proper connection protocol. It also flags the dreaded “mixed content” issue that arises from insecure HTTP subresources. From there, you can drill down to see which resource, exactly, is borking your page’s lock.
To use the new panel, developers just need to open up the Chrome 48 dev tools, or click on the URL lock icon and select “details.” The new version of Chrome also brings a number of bug fixes and eliminates the old and insecure RC4 encryption scheme. The stable version started rolling out yesterday and should hit most regions soon.
Source: Google
TfL is making it easier to beat traffic and find parking
With the majority of Brits now owning a smartphone or tablet, developers have jumped at the chance to deliver up-to-the-minute information on traffic and travel. Transport for London (TfL) has helped facilitate a number of these features by opening its data feeds, which let app makers display train departure times, ticket costs and even list which stations have toilet facilities.
That dataset is always expanding, so today TfL has opened more information to developers, allowing them to include live updates on the number of parking spaces available at Tube stations, as well as improved traffic cam imagery that will help drivers navigate around gridlocked areas. Transport for London already delivers information on planned roadworks and road incidents, but “JamCam” information will let Londoners see the damage for themselves.
TfL says it has more updates in the pipeline, with simpler access to annual road safety data and complex fare breakdowns on the agenda. It’s also looking into how it can predict the status of roads, buses and trains so it can deliver warnings way in advance.
TfL is making it easier to beat traffic and find parking
With the majority of Brits now owning a smartphone or tablet, developers have jumped at the chance to deliver up-to-the-minute information on traffic and travel. Transport for London (TfL) has helped facilitate a number of these features by opening its data feeds, which let app makers display train departure times, ticket costs and even list which stations have toilet facilities.
That dataset is always expanding, so today TfL has opened more information to developers, allowing them to include live updates on the number of parking spaces available at Tube stations, as well as improved traffic cam imagery that will help drivers navigate around gridlocked areas. Transport for London already delivers information on planned roadworks and road incidents, but “JamCam” information will let Londoners see the damage for themselves.
TfL says it has more updates in the pipeline, with simpler access to annual road safety data and complex fare breakdowns on the agenda. It’s also looking into how it can predict the status of roads, buses and trains so it can deliver warnings way in advance.
Google Hangouts version 7.0 rolling out, quick replies and conversation shortcuts on board
Things don’t change often in the world of Google Hangouts, so every time we see a cool new feature arrive it’s worthy of celebration. It is the IM service all Android users have by default, after all (whether you use it or not).
Reports of Hangouts version 7.0 rolling out have started hitting the web. But there’s more than just a lucky number to this upgrade. Google has graced us with a couple features that many of us have actually been hoping for.
See also: 10 best messenger apps for Android
The first one (and the coolest, in my opinion) is the implementation of quick replies. What this does is allow you to reply to a Hangouts message without having to go into the app. When you receive an instant message notification, simply hit the reply button and a floating screen will show up. Type in your message and send away without having to go away from what you were doing.
#gallery-1
margin: auto;
#gallery-1 .gallery-item
float: left;
margin-top: 10px;
text-align: center;
width: 33%;
#gallery-1 img
border: 2px solid #cfcfcf;
#gallery-1 .gallery-caption
margin-left: 0;
/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
There’s also a new option that allows you to create conversation shortcuts on your home screen. Simply open a Hangouts conversation, hit the 3-dot menu button in the top-right corner and select “Save to Home Screen”. An icon with your contact’s profile picture will show up in your home screen so you can message away quicker than ever.
Both great additions, right? I am a huge Hangouts user, so these are definitely welcomed improvements by my book. Are you as excited about them? Be patient, as these updates roll out periodically. If you just can’t wait, though, here is a link to download your APK file. Enjoy!
Download the Google Hangoute 7.0 APK
Visit the Google Hangouts Play Store page
Twitter’s product head is jumping to Instagram
Ex-Twitter executive Kevin Weil is switching social networks: he’s joining Instagram as its new head of product and will be reporting directly to CEO Kevin Systrom, according to NYT. Recode says Weil has replaced Peter Deng who moved to another FB property, Oculus, earlier this month. The Facebook-owned image-sharing network has apparently been courting Weil since last year, and it’s not true that he was fired. He’s chosen to take the company up on its offer way before it was reported that some of Twitter’s top execs are leaving the microblogging service.
The New York Times describes Weil, who joined Twitter in 2009, as a “well-liked veteran.” It’s unclear why he’s decided to change allegiances, but his responsibilities were reportedly trimmed down after Dorsey cleaned house in October.
Source: The New York Times, Recode
AIVAnet 