Exploring the Windows 10 Maps app – CNET

Microsoft’s new Maps app was designed for your Windows phone, but because Windows 10 is a universal operating system, the app also comes preinstalled on your PC.

It’s actually a pretty neat app to explore — turn-by-turn directions are just one of its features.

Here’s a look at what the Maps app has to offer.

Search

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

The Search feature is for more than just plugging in your final destination. Hit the Search icon and type in anything — an address, a city, a tourist attraction, a local hotspot or a category (e.g., “restaurants in Los Angeles”) and you’ll see real-time Bing results pop up in the left sidebar. The information you receive will depend on what you’re looking for, but Bing will pull up all sorts of relevant results, including photos, Yelp reviews, and Wikipedia statistics.

Directions

Directions are obviously a big part of any maps application, and the directions in the Maps app are pretty straightforward. Hit the Directions icon to plug in your current location and destination, and the app will serve up driving, public transportation and walking directions.

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

You also have the option to customize your route — drivers can choose to avoid toll roads, highways and tunnels, while public transit-takers can look for routes that offer fewer transfers or less walking time.

Favorites

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

The Favorites section is where you’ll find your favorite/starred locations. You can’t add favorites from the Favorites section; to add a favorite, you will have to first search for it in the Search section and then click the star that appears under that place’s name. You can nickname each favorite and set it as your home or your workplace (though you can only have one home and one workplace).

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

The Favorites section does have a Car location feature, which lets you add your car’s location so you remember where you parked. To add your car’s location, just click Add location and the app will log your current location, time, and date. You can also add a photo (of your car or of the location; you’ll probably want to add a photo that helps you identify where your car is) and adjust the exact location on the map, in case Windows’ location data is slightly off.

3D Cities

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

Map nerds will love the 3D Cities feature, which lets you explore hundreds of cities in photo-realistic 3D imagery. To access this feature, hit the 3D Cities icon and navigate to the city you want to check out.

You can also access 3D Cities directly from any 3D-ready city map. Click the layers icon and switch to Aerial view, and then click the tilt icon to see the city pop-up in three dimensions. You can navigate a 3D city with your mouse by right-clicking to rotate your view and left-clicking to drag yourself around. Left-click once on a street to enter Microsoft’s version of Street View, also known as “Streetside” imagery.

3D Cities is mostly just a fun feature, but it can also be useful — I recently used it to check out the rooftop amenities of buildings I was thinking about renting in.

How to download offline maps in Windows 10 – CNET

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

Windows 10’s new Maps app is handy, but what if you need to find your way around a city on a limited (or nonexistent) data connection? Offline maps, that’s what!

The Maps app has offline maps built in, though not all countries (e.g., Japan) are currently available for download. In offline mode, you’ll be able to search downloaded maps for landmarks and select local hotspots and find directions (including turn-by-turn directions, albeit without real-time traffic data). You will not be able to view 3D Cities or the Aerial overlay, nor will you get Bing information in your searches.

Here’s how to download offline maps:

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

1. Open the Settings menu and go to System > Offline maps.

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

2. Click Download maps. Find the map you want to download — you can refine your search by continent and, in some cases, by region. Not all countries are available. You’ll be able to see how big the map is before you download it.

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

3. To change where your offline maps are stored, open the Settings menu and go to System > Offline maps > Storage location. If you have multiple hard drives or a partitioned hard drive, you can choose which drive to save your maps on; you won’t be able to choose a specific folder, however.

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

4. To save data, you may want to turn off Metered connections so that your maps will only download when your device is connected to “free Wi-Fi or unlimited cellular data.” (Automatic map updates, if turned on, will only ever download when you’re not connected to a metered connection.)

How to set up and use multiple accounts on Amazon Echo – CNET

Sarah Tew/CNET

In a number of ways, an Amazon Echo speaker can make your home life much easier. With only your voice, you can turn on the lights, order a pizza and stream your favorite music or news station.

However, in a house full of different people, their music libraries, calendars, to-do lists and preferences will vary.

The good news is that you can easily set up multiple user accounts within a household. Here’s how it’s done.

Prerequisites

Before you try to add an additional household member to your Amazon Echo, you will need a few things.

First, make sure that person has an Amazon account (create one if necessary). You’ll need the log-in credentials for that account to add it to your household profile.

Add a household member to your Amazon Echo

Adding a new user to your Echo’s household profile should only take a minute. To add a new user:

• Open the Amazon Alexa application or go to echo.amazon.com in a browser from your computer and navigate to Settings.
• Scroll to the bottom of Settings and locate Household Profile.
• Enter your Amazon log-in info and sign in. On the next page, click Continue.
• Next, give the computer or phone to the person you are adding to the account so he or she can enter the log-in information for that Amazon account.
• Once that’s done, click Join Household.

With multiple accounts, not only can you share your content libraries, such as books and music; you can also collaborate on stuff like shopping lists, to-do lists and calendars. To access the digital content from another user’s account, you will need to switch to that person’s profile by saying, “Alexa, switch accounts” or “Alexa, switch to Taylor’s profile.”

To check which profile is currently active, simply ask, “Alexa, which account is this?” or “Alexa, which profile am I using?”

There’s also something to be wary of. When you add an additional user, you are giving that person the ability to purchase items with your Amazon account. To add an additional layer of security, open Settings in the Amazon Alexa app and select Voice Purchasing. Under “Require confirmation code,” enter a four-digit code that must be said aloud when purchasing physical items or digital content via the Echo.

Remove a household member from Amazon Echo

Removing someone from your Amazon household is also a quick process.

• Open the Amazon Alexa app on your smartphone or navigate to echo.amazon.com in your browser from a computer and go to Settings.
• Near the bottom of Settings, you should see a menu titled In an Amazon household with [user name]. Select this.
• Beside your name, you should see a button titled Leave. Beside the other users’ names, you will see the option to remove the user. Tap this link to remove a user or tap Leave to remove yourself from the household.

This is why you should keep a bikini trimmer in your laundry room – CNET

Bikini trimmers work great for removing pills.

Alina Bradford

If you’ve ever thrown out a sweater because it was covered with lint balls, then this tip is for you. Next time save your sweater using a simple appliance you probably have in your bathroom: hair trimmers.

All you do is shave the lint balls off just like you’d cut unwanted hair from your body. You can use hair trimmers like Wahl hair clippers on their lowest setting or beard and bikini trimmers like Finishing Touch or Kiss Super Groom. I suggest buying a bikini trimmer to keep specifically in the laundry room so it’s always handy. They’re inexpensive, small and easy to use.

Getting rid of sweater pills is easy. Hold the trimmer so that the blades are parallel to the fabric and skim along the surface as if you were shaving your sweater. Make sure that you go slowly and don’t nick the yarn. Trimmers can easily sever a stitch and make your sweater unravel.

10 unusual things you can clean in the washing…

1 – 5 of 11

Next
Prev

Rent private cars for cheap with Turo – CNET

As everyone knows, we’re now living in a sharing economy. People share their homes (Airbnb), their culinary skills (EatWith), their manual labor (TaskRabbit) — heck, even their money (LendingClub).

Oh, and of course their cars: Lyft and Uber drivers will gladly ferry you from point A to point B (or, let’s be honest, bar A to bar B). But what if you need a car of your own? Maybe, say, a minivan your family can use during a week in Florida?

Typically, that kind of arrangement requires a trip to Budget, Hertz or a similarly traditional car-rental outfit. But thanks to the sharing economy, it’s now possible to rent a private car instead. And often for significantly less money.

Turo: like Uber, but you do the driving. Rent something fun for yourself, or rent something cheap while traveling.

Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

It was exactly that hope that (sorry) drove me to Turo, an Uber-like service that lets you rent cars from individuals (or, if you’re looking to make some money, rent your own car to others).

Never heard of it? That’s because up until last November, Turo was RelayRides. (You can be forgiven if you’d never heard of that, either; I hadn’t until last year, when I read Joel Stein’s awesome story about the sharing economy’s explosive growth.) It’s not the only peer-to-peer car-rental game in town — GetAround and FlightCar have similar models — but it seemed the best fit for my travel needs.

Which is to say, I found plenty of minivans I could rent during my family’s week in Florida. Because it was a holiday, rental-car companies were going to hit me up for at least $400. On Turo, I found “Dmitry’s 2009 Dodge Caravan” for $30 per day. Adding in the various taxes, fees and whatnot, I was looking at just over $200 for the week.

I should pause here to note that Turo and similar services can also be used for straight-up fun, allowing you to rent, say, a Corvette or Mini Cooper for a day — great for a date night or personal indulgence. Indeed, I found a couple Minis in my own neck of the woods, both priced at $50 per day.

But back to the van. A 2009 seemed a little old, but in the photos it looked like new, and so what if it lacked a few bells and whistles? Plus, Dmitry had scored very positive reviews from past renters, so I decided to take the plunge.

Although I used the Turo Web site to book my rental, the Turo app gave me updates and put me in direct contact with Dmitry — similar to how the Uber app works. Alas, he wasn’t exactly forthcoming; he never asked for my flight number or arrival time, and I had to ask questions like, “Where do I meet you?” His responses were often of the “K” brand of terse.

That said, two minutes after we walked out of baggage claim into the Florida sun, Dmitry pulled up in the Caravan. He extended a hand, checked my driver’s license, gave me the key, pointed to an existing dent near the front and then walked off. I think there may have been a grunt or two mixed in there, but that was the extent of our interaction.

Needless to say, quite a different experience than finding the rental-car shuttle bus, riding the rental-car shuttle bus, waiting in a long line to pick up the rental, completing endless forms, declining endless upgrades and so on. Turo: way better. Your mileage may vary, of course, but lenders attract more renters by providing just this kind of efficiency, and scoring positive reviews as a result.

The van itself was spotless and, save for the dent, like new. And I was pleased to note the SunPass sticker atop the windshield; it allowed me to zoom through Florida’s many toll booths without stopping.

When it came time to leave, I, of course, had to ask Dmitry where to meet. “Departures,” he texted back. Okay, smart guy, let’s see if you can figure out what airline I’m on. But sure enough, when I pulled up to the Delta door, he was standing right there. Sorcerer!

I handed him the key and that was that. No forms to sign, no shuttle bus to take. I wasn’t a big fan of Dmitry the man, but Dmitry’s van? That I liked. And I liked Turo for hooking us up. I would definitely use the service again.

This despite the bill I received a few days later. Turns out I’m on the hook for the aforementioned tolls, which I suppose makes sense. This wasn’t mentioned anywhere on Dmitry’s listing, but a quick perusal of Turo’s FAQ page revealed that, yep, tolls are the renter’s responsibility. The tally: around $14; no biggie.

This serves as an important reminder: do your homework. Read Turo’s traveler help pages so there are no surprises, especially when it comes to insurance coverage and roadside assistance. For example, with a traditional rental car, your credit-card provider usually offers some coverage. With Turo, it probably doesn’t. To tweak the old saying: renter beware.

That’s true of everything in this new economy. There may be new risks in exchange for lower costs and greater convenience. But based on my admittedly limited experience thus far, these are risks I’m willing to take. Your thoughts?

Oh, by the way, if you want to try Turo for yourself, you can get $25 off your first rental. (Full disclosure: that’s a referral link. I didn’t have one myself before signing up, and now I’m $25 poorer as a result. But of course you’re under no obligation to use it. Hit up a Turo-using friend or relative if you’d rather keep the benefits “local.”)

Let Morgan Freeman guide you to your destination – CNET

I saw Morgan Freeman once. On the Fox studio lot. Walked right past me. So, yeah, I’m pretty much Morgan Freeman’s BFF.

That’s why I’m excited to announce that MoFree (that’s what I call him; he refers to me as “public nuisance”) is the latest celebrity to lend his vocal talents to Waze.

Waze, of course, is the popular community-powered navigation app. In the past, the company has attracted such big names as Arnold Schwarzenegger (awesomely performing as the Terminator) and Stephen Colbert. Now, to help promote the new movie “London Has Fallen,” no less than God himself, Morgan Freeman, will help you get from point A to point B.

Waze

Here’s how:

Step 1: Fire up the Waze app. It should perform an automatic update and “language” download.

Step 2: Tap the Waze icon (lower left corner), then the Settings icon (upper left corner).

Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

Step 3: Tap Sound > Voice Language, then choose Morgan Freeman. Finally, tap the X to return to the navigation screen.

Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

And that’s it! The next time you input a destination, be prepared for audio awesomeness.

Now for the bad news: You can’t keep Morgan Freeman in your pocket indefinitely. Although Waze hasn’t indicated exactly how long this voice option will be available, most of the previous promotions lasted about three weeks.

Why the company doesn’t make these voices available as in-app purchases is beyond me. Because once you get accustomed to Morgan Freakin’ Freeman as your navigator, wouldn’t you pay a few bucks to keep him?

While you’re mulling that over, hit the comments and name your favorite celebrity navigator to date. Ah-nold? C-3PO?

How and when to preorder the new Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge – CNET

Samsung’s Galaxy S7 Edge will be ready for purchase soon.

Josh Miller/CNET

Samsung just took the wraps off its brand new Galaxy smartphones. The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge feature improved cameras, faster performance and longer battery life, among a myriad of other features. The highlight, however, has got to be the return of a microSD card slot and IP68 water-resistant rating, both of which were favorite features that didn’t make it into the Galaxy S6.

The Galaxy S7 is equipped with a 5.1-inch display touting a 2,560×1,440-pixel resolution and a 12-megapixel camera. The phone is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 820 processor with 4GB of RAM and comes with either 32GB or 64GB of storage, along with a 3,000 mAh battery (a big step up from the 2,550 mAh of the Galaxy S6). The Galaxy S7 Edge adds adds a larger 5.5-inch display with curved edges and 3,600mAh battery.

This year there’s an added incentive to preorder the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. Samsung will offer its Gear VR headset, which usually costs $100, for free for users who preorder either device. To sweeten the deal, Samsung will also be throwing in six virtual reality games with the headset. The offer is valid with a two-year contract, a device installment plan, a leasing plan or when you purchase the phone outright at full retail price.

Up close with the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge’s…

1 – 5 of 14

Next
Prev

Interested in picking up a new Samsung smartphone? Here’s what you need to know.

When and where

The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge will be available on Friday, March 11, with preorders set to begin on Tuesday, February 23.

Samsung Galaxy S7 pricing (32GB model)

* Sprint’s “Galaxy Forever” plan allows users to lease the Galaxy S7 and upgrade to a new Samsung Galaxy smartphone after 12 months.

** T-Mobile is offering customers who preorder the Galaxy S7 a free year of Netflix.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge pricing (32GB model)

* Sprint’s “Galaxy Forever” plan allows users to lease the Galaxy S7 Edge and upgrade to a new Samsung Galaxy smartphone after 12 months.

** T-Mobile is offering customers who preorder the Galaxy S7 Edge a free year of Netflix.

Best Buy

You can check out both devices in Best Buy stores nationwide starting on February 24. The retailer is offering customers who preorder either device a free 64GB microSD card (in addition to the Gear VR headset). The Galaxy S7 will be available for $199 with a two-year contract for Verizon and Sprint customers, while the Galaxy S7 Edge will cost $299 with a two-year agreement.

Storage options

You can purchase the Galaxy S7 in Black Onyx or Gold Platinum. The Galaxy S7 Edge will also be available in Silver Titanium. Samsung announced that the phone will come in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB models. At this time, however, U.S. carriers haven’t released pricing or release information for the larger capacity models.

Both the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are equipped with a microSD card slot, which lets you add up to an additional 200GB of storage for a relatively low price.

Editors’ note: This article will be updated as more pricing information and promotions become available.

TYLT Y QUIK Car Charger review

Over the years I have used some pretty crappy chargers. I used to have chargers for a 30 pin iPhone, mini USB for my Blackberry, and the proprietary connector for my GPS. Now everything is USB. My cell phones and GPS are now USB so specialized chargers are no longer popular. However, the problem now is that we need multiple USB chargers.

If you aren’t charging your phone and GPS then your passenger probably needs a charge, too. And let’s talk about speed? Is your current charger only 1 amp? No one has time for that. Time to upgrade!

I recently had the opportunity to spend time with the TYLT Y QUIK Car Charger. This is the first TYLT product I have used; I was impressed with everything, starting with the physical box in which the unit was packed. Seriously, it is way cooler looking in person and photos do not do it justice.

Removing the charger from the box you will notice two things. First off, the end that goes into your car is square, not round. I wondered about this briefly but I tried it in three different cars and fitting it into the cigarette lighter is spot on. I felt like it had the right amount of “grip” without being too difficult to remote.

The second thing you will notice is the grippy coating. It is very much like the coating on an old IBM Thinkpad or a nice cell phone case. It isn’t glossy and seems fairly durable.

Features:

• Can charge 2 smartphones or tablets at once
• Will output 4.8A, benefiting both Apple and Android products
• Supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0

During my testing, I had no issue fitting this charger in several cars. There is a cigarette lighter buried inside my center console of my daily driver but I knew this would not fit well. However, the primary port worked fine. Unfortunately, I simply did not have enough space to work with two devices.

This charger does everything it claims when charging two devices at the same time. I ran my iPad, Tablet, GPS, and several phones with out any issues. I don’t have a Quick Charge 2.0 device, but I did notice quicker charge times than my old ancient 1A unit. Even charging two devices, I didn’t notice the TYLT unit get hot or overly warm. For those curious, testing was performed in the midwest during winter.

Wrapping up this review, I am really having trouble trying to pick on this product. It is well made, simple, and offers high output. But, I can see some situations were a “Y” design would not fit. This is priced as a premium product. In other words, it’s not cheap or cheaply made. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for.

I certainly recommend this car charger if you are in the market for one. This goes double for those of you who often have passengers. As most of today’s devices are utilizing Quick Charge 2.0 and even into 3.0, you’ll want to ensure your short commutes are productive.

You can find the TYLT Y-CHARGE QUICK in blue or black for about $40 from the manufacturer’s website. Swing through Amazon and you’ll find about the same price.

KK Emoji Keyboard: Features and customization at your fingertips (review)

One of the many advantages of Android is that you can customize it to your liking. Changing the keyboard has been for years one of the most important features of Android, one that others just recently started to imitate, without much success. Thus, the keyboard category in the Google Play Store is very competitive, and customers are now demanding innovative features and good performance. KK Emoji Keyboard packs a huge amount of features into a fluid keyboard, with tons of add-ons and themes to make it your own.

Highlights:

• Setup screen is beautiful.
• Astounding amount of features and add-ons.
• Amazing performance.
• Several options and input languages to choose from.
• Premium version for approximately $3.85.

Setup

The setup process.

When launching the app for the first time, you are shown the setup screen, which has a shaking button indicating what you should do next. It’s a small but nice touch that makes the tedious process of activating a keyboard in Android a little more enjoyable. After enabling the keyboard and setting is as default, you’re finally ready to venture into the app’s depths. Unfortunately, after such a beautiful first impression, a full screen ad completely disrupts the otherwise painless setup process.

Usage

The first thing you’ll see after setup is the astonishing amount of free themes available for download. You can browse through them by category, featured, top rank or see the ones stored on your device. If the KK in the name stands for KitKat, then it’s very appropriate, since the default theme is very similar in design to keyboards shipped during the Android 4.4 era. However, with the impressive number of themes at your disposal, you’ll definitely find something that suits your needs.

The wealth of themes KK Emoji Keyboard offers.

When opening the navigation drawer is when you start to realize the magnitude of this keyboard. The amount of customization available is almost intimidating. From sticker packs to emoji plugins to a gif gallery, this keyboard has it all. You can customize the color of the gesture trail. You can change the keyboard’s wallpaper. You can have a row on top of the keyboard for emojis only. You can even change your key press tone to a dog barking. Even though having your keyboard bark is fun for exactly 10 seconds, the sheer quantity of things you can customize and add is truly impressive.

In an effort to entertain customers with flashy stuff, some keyboards forget about delivering a good typing experience. This is not the case at all with KK Emoji Keyboard. Typing on it is fast and fluid, and the key press popup does not lag. The delay between touching a text input box and the keyboard appearing is almost negligible. Auto-correction works almost flawlessly in English and Spanish. Suggestions are good and helpful, too. There’s also voice recognition support powered by Google, as is the case in many keyboards.  

KK Emoji Keyboard in action.

Options are similar to what’s offered in Google Keyboard. Input languages (with dozens of languages available), text correction aggressiveness, and contact names suggestions are all present. Notably absent is the choice of learning words from your social media. There’s also a tablet mode, for those of you using Android on a 7+ inch device.

Finally, there’s an option to go Premium for $3.85 (the actual price in your country may vary). This removes all ads and gives you the choice of removing and customizing the toolbar at the top of the keyboard. Also, there’s the promise of more premium features in the future, and the warm feeling of supporting the developer. It is important to mention that during my time spent with the app, I received one ad in the notification bar, something many of you consider unacceptable.

Conclusion

It’s nice to find an app that simply works, and that’s the case of KK Emoji Keyboard: a high functioning and customizable keyboard that is only mildly hampered by the occasional ad and the dated default theme. When you have competitors such as Swiftkey, Fleksy, Google Keyboard and Swype, it is important to deliver a strong product in order to stand out. I now understand why 10+ million people have chosen this to handle their communications. I highly recommend the KK Emoji Keyboard app.

Download from the Play Store.

Rocket Racer: A Runner/Racer Hybrid with Character [Review]

Overview

Rocket Racer is a strange combination of familiar tropes; it’s a racing game that’s also a straight-line runner, that’s some combination of Star Wars Pod Racer and Mario Kart. The goal is to ride your rocket from point A to point B before the other racers, while collecting coins and power-ups and dodging obstacles. In between races you can upgrade your racer and your power ups with coins you collect in-race.

Developer: CatfishBlues Games

Price: Free (Ad-Supported, In-App-Purchases)

Highlights:

• Fast-paced, clean Racing/Runner hybrid.
• High production value.
• Quick sessions of play – not a time hog.

Setup 

Rocket Racer was about as painless as I’ve seen a game to set up; login with Google Play if you want, and then get to racing.

Impressions

I’m going to be honest, at first I did not like this game. The rounds were too short, the controls too touchy, the lack of a variety of racers was frustrating…lots of things turned me off about it. But then I started playing, and something changed. I couldn’t tell you what it was; the races are still very short, the controls are very sensitive, and there are still only two racers to choose from, but I was having fun doing it.

Choose your racer.

The stages in Rocket Racer are these adorable little themed, single-direction levels littered with coins (used as currency to upgrade your racer, power ups, or purchase a new character), power ups (which look exactly like Mario Kart power ups, and function similarly), and environmental obstacles (ranging from rocks and trees to speed boosting ramps and explosive barriers. There’s a wide range of power ups to use, including: Rockets (three different kinds), Electric Shields, Time Slow, High Jump, and Invincibility. These power ups are generally not game-changing, because the races tend to be between 20 and 30 seconds long, but they can turn the tide if you’re clever with their use. With vibrant, full-3D graphics and a charming soundtrack, Rocket Racer’s production value is high as well.

Progression System.

Buy more coins.

Rocket Racer is ad-supported, but the ads are generally one of two varieties – small banner ads at the bottom of the screen, and large, full screen ads after every few races. Very reasonable, very unobtrusive.  You can also buy Coins using real money, though in the experience I’ve had thus far that is completely unnecessary.

What I like

• Modest ads and IAPs.
• Quick sessions of gameplay.
• Good graphics and sound.

What I don’t

• Quick sessions of gameplay.
• Lacks a variety of racers.

Conclusion

Rocket Racer is a fast paced romp through a couple dozen courses – ads are reasonable and in-app-purchases are unnecessary, so for the price of entry, this is a quality game that’s bound to help you waste some time.

Google Play Store –  Rocket Racer