How to share custom short URLs from your Android – CNET

Sharing links with friends on Android leaves you at the mercy of the app you’re using to shorten the ridiculously-long ones. Plus, you won’t be able to easily see how many times your link has been clicked. Unless, of course, you use an app like URL Shortener.

Instead of generating a random mix of letters, you can control the structure of your short URL with seven choices, including lower and upper case, pronounceable, numbers only, and custom. While smartphones can easily open a link, these choices will make it less cumbersome if your recipient wants to type the URL into a desktop browser. Additionally, you can add statistic tracking with several of the providers, giving you useful info about whether or not your links are being seen.

Step 1: Grab a copy of URL Shortener for your Android device.

Step 2: Open the app and head to Settings so you can choose your preferred URL provider (six choices), and whether you want to enable tracking. Unfortunately, you cannot set a default structure.

Enlarge Image

URL Shortener main and settings menus.

Nicole Cozma/CNET

Step 3: When you’re ready to share a link you have two options:

• Copy the URL and paste it into the app, giving you access to structure choices, and allowing you to divert from your default URL shortening service.

Note: According to tips offered by Guiding Tech, Goo.gl does not support anything other than Standard structure, and tinyurl does not offer statistics.

• Share the link with the URL Shortener app (listed as Shorten URL in the menu). This option will not let you choose between URL structures, but will follow your default provider choice. You’ll be able to copy the URL quickly, or share it through another app.

Enlarge Image

URL Shortener history menu.

Nicole Cozma/CNET

As an added bonus, the app will keep a history of all URLs you shorten.

What’s your preferred method of shortening URLs? Share your thoughts in the comments.

(Via Guiding Tech)

Brita Infinity Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The Brita Infinity Pitcher solves a problem you might not know you have.

Amazon

If you’ve ever owned a Brita water filter, you’ve probably spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to remember when you last replaced it. Brita has teamed up with Amazon to try to take this worry off your list of first-world problems.

On Monday, the online mega-retailer began selling the Brita Infinity, a Wi-Fi-connected water pitcher that will automatically order you new replacement filters through Amazon Dash Replenishment. Here’s how the $45 (about £32 or AU$63) pitcher works: You press the start button on the Infinity when you put a new filter into the pitcher. A built-in counter in the Infinity then tracks how much water passes through the pitcher. When the filter is almost spent (which takes about 40 gallons or 2 months), the Infinity will automatically order more filters from Amazon at about $6 each.

More about Dash

• Amazon says its Dash button clicks with customers
• The problem with Amazon Dash buttons
• Amazon Dash Buttons may be the future of grocery shopping

This latest partnership shows Amazon is eager to grow Dash Replenishment, the retailer’s program that lets connected products order more supplies from Amazon. There are more than a dozen manufacturers that have teamed up with Amazon to enable their products to do the ordering for you, including Brother printers that will order ink and Gmate Smart Blood Glucose Meter that will order testing supplies.

Large appliance manufacturers such as GE and Whirlpool are also getting in on the Dash game with dishwashers, washers and dryers that will replenish your supplies. Amazon has also doubled its efforts in producing its Dash buttons, those little branded, Internet-connected buttons you can press to automatically order specific products, such as Kraft Macaroni & Cheese or Tide detergent.

Wi-Fi connected water pitchers are low on my list of smart home must-haves. But as someone who has often disregarded the recommended changing schedule for a water filter, I can see the usefulness in this connectivity. It comes down to how much Brita users are willing to pay for the convenience of being forgetful.

Features

• Pitcher holds 8 cups (about 1.9 liters)
• BPA-free
• Reduces contaminants including lead, zinc, copper, mercury and cadmium

From the Forums — Which Galaxy S7 is best for the Gear VR?

Each phone you put in the Gear VR is great, but if you want the best possible experience you should choose wisely.

All Gear VR experiences are not created equal. Many of the newer, more capable apps don’t run on the Galaxy Note 4. Using a Galaxy S6 means you get about 45 minutes of play time before you’re scrambling for power. The Note 5 is the only current-generation Gear VR phone that doesn’t give you overheat warnings when connected to power for more than a few minutes while playing a game. It’s all the same Oculus-based system, but the details matter if you plan to be using that free Gear VR Samsung is offering for a limited time.

This means you have a choice to make, as we discovered in our forums. Do you go with the Samsung Galaxy S7, or the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge? There are advantages and disadvantages for both, and we’ve got them outlined for you right here.

Samsung built the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge so they are nearly identical inside. In fact, the only differences between these two phones are display and battery capacity. As it turns out, those are two of the most important things to consider when using the Samsung Gear VR.

Screen size in and of itself isn’t as important as pixel density. Remember, the Gear VR takes your display and holds each half up to a parabolic lense. Denser pixels means you’ll have a better image, which in turn means your visual experience will be better. If the visual experience is the most important thing to you, the Galaxy S7 will be the phone you want.

While both phones have the same functional resolution, the pixel density on the S7 is greater than that of the S7 edge. You won’t notice a difference in normal, day to day activities, but when held under that magnifying lens the difference will be clear.

Battery capacity in this instance has two meanings. First, and most obviously, the larger Galaxy S7 edge will last longer in the Gear VR. Larger battery means more time for watching Netflix and blowing up spaceships, both of which are quite a bit of fun on the Gear VR. The second detail, which is less obvious, is heat management.

Taxing the processor means a greater draw on the battery, which means more heat is generated in both places. Same goes for anyone charging their phone while playing, you’re creating more heat. The larger surface of the Galaxy S7 edge will dissipate heat faster, which means fewer opportunities for overheating when playing your games.

Choosing between these two phones for the Gear VR isn’t easy, but it’s all about what you expect to get out of the experience. If you want the best possible visuals, you want the Galaxy S7. If you plan to be spending a lot of time inside the Gear VR, the S7 edge is more likely to be the better overall experience. Either way, you’ll have everything you need to thoroughly enjoy yourself in VR.

Samsung Galaxy S7

• Galaxy S7 and S7 edge hands-on
• Galaxy S7 and S7 edge specs
• Here are all four Galaxy S7 colors
• Details on the Galaxy S7’s camera
• The SD card is back on the GS7
• Join our Galaxy S7 forums

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Samsung Gear VR

• Gear VR review
• Five Gear VR games that shouldn’t be missed
• Inside Samsung’s Gear VR web browser
• Gear VR vs. Google Cardboard
• Where to buy Gear VR

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Weekly Poll Follwup: Galaxy S7 was the best phone announcement at Mobile World Congress 2016

In last week’s poll we asked which phone announcement from Mobile World Congress 2016 was your favorite. This year we got to see another amazing spread of brand new smartphones like the LG G5 and the new Sony Xperia X Series. There was plenty to be excited all over the place.

We gave you six options in last week’s poll: “Samsung Galaxy S7,” “LG G5,” “Sony Xperia X Performance,” “ZTE Blade V7,” “Alcatel Idol 4” and “Other.”

In first place with 51 percent of the overall vote, was the Samsung Galaxy S7. The LG G5 took second place with 28 percent of the vote. In third place, at only 9 percent, was a tie between the Sony Xperia X Performance and Other. The Alcatel Idol 4 managed to scrape into fourth place with 3 percent, and the ZTE Blade Z7 came in last with just 1 percent of the total vote.

So did your favorite win? Or was your favorite not on our list this week? Sound off in the comments, and let us know!

‘Fallout Shelter’ is becoming a bit more like ‘Fallout 4’

We still don’t have exact timing for the upcoming Fallout 4 add-on packs and survival mode, but perhaps a pretty sizable update to Fallout Shelter is an olive branch of sorts. For the most part, the patch brings a level of parity between the console and mobile game with the addition of armor and weapons crafting, a day-and-night cycle and Vault Dweller customization by way of a new room type (a barbershop). Oh, and because Bethesda doesn’t discriminate against non-four-legged creatures in terms of pet ownership, parrots are joining a few new cats and dogs in your underground utopia.

From the sounds of it, Bethesda is going to keep the mobile game updated on the regular too. The post on the publisher’s/developer’s website promises more to come following this one, which hits rather ambiguously sometime “later this week.”Here’s the thing, just how many people are still playing the game? Personally, I haven’t opened the app in at least three months, mainly because if I want to play Fallout I just turn on my PlayStation 4; I’m kind of a sucker for narrative. What about you?

Are you still playing ‘Fallout Shelter’ ?

Source: Bethesda

Take a peek at ‘Life is Strange’ studio’s next game, ‘Vampyr’

Gaze into the darkness long enough and a reluctant British vampire will gaze back at you. Sure, that’s not quite what Nietzsche said, but it’s the angle Dontnod is taking with its latest game, Vampyr. Set in London in 1918, Vampyr stars Jonathan Reid, a military doctor who specialized in blood research during World War I. He’s also a vampire, though he doesn’t enjoy killing; he dedicated his life to healing, after all. The Spanish Flu is ravaging Europe and as Reid stalks London’s foggy streets, he must balance his bloodlust with his still-intact moral compass.

The first screenshots for Vampyr are dark, both in mood and coloring. The cobblestone streets are unsanitary and dangerous, with shadowy figures lurking beneath yellow street lamps. It’s a huge departure for Dontond, the studio behind Life is Strange (a contemporary point-and-click adventure game about time-traveling high schoolers) and Remember Me (a sci-fi action title set in Neo-Paris in 2084).

Vampyr seems more on par with games like Assassin’s Creed or Devil May Cry — it includes a third-person, hand-to-hand combat system and superhuman parkour-inspired abilities. Players level up their fighting abilities and personality traits based on how much blood they harvest, heightening the tension between the protagonist’s desire to feed and do no harm.

The game’s overarching narrative, however, has Dontnod’s special spin: As Jonathan Reid carefully selects and kills his victims, their deaths alter the lives of related characters and the areas of town where their bodies are discovered.

“Be careful who you choose to hunt as they will be gone forever, and their death will impact in a meaningful way the world that surrounds you,” Dontnod says.

There’s no release date for Vampyr, but it’s in development for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.

Our very first screenshots of #Vampyr!https://t.co/Sojj1z945D
https://t.co/srCkHNYeNE

— DONTNOD_Ent (@DONTNOD_Ent) February 29, 2016

Google now sells Cardboard VR viewer directly through its online store

Google has a new Virtual Reality storefront in the Google Store, and one of the first viewers being shown off in the section is none other Google Cardboard.

Cardboard released more than a year ago and is nothing more than a do-it-yourself cardboard kit that requires a phone to power and display a VR experience. Since it debuted, many third parties have begun selling similar pre-cut kits. Google has never sold Cardboard directly through its store, but now it is offering a single Cardboard unit for $15, while a two-pack goes for $25.

Google also gives badges out to Cardboard-certified viewers to let consumers know those specific VR viewers work nicely with VR apps and games developed for its Google Cardboard headset, and the new Virtual Reality section in the Google Store showcases some of these headsets, such as Mattel’s new View-Master VR ($29.99) and the Goggle Tech C1 Glass ($14.99).

Google likely launched this VR section and its Cardboard through the section because its I/O developer conference is just a couple months away. Virtual reality is expected to be a big thing at the event. Plus, Google is rumoured to be developing a standalone VR headset that doesn’t require a smartphone for power or display purposes. None of this is confirmed as of yet however.One thing is for sure: Google’s new storefront tells us it is taking VR seriously.

Google

GoPro just spent $105 million on these two video-editing apps

No one likes to edit videos. We’re sure video editors even hate their job.

It’s tedious and cumbersome and practically any other adjective to describe painstaking and/or annoying. So when GoPro killed several action cams and laid off 7 percent of its workforce after posting disastrous fourth-quarter results, it of course laid some of the blame on video editing, even going so far as to describe it as an “inconvenience” during the company’s Q4 earnings call earlier this month.

But that’s all about to change for GoPro. In an attempt to fill in some gaps and maybe stem the losses, the action-cam maker has announced it acquired two mobile video editing apps: Replay and Splice. Replay is developed by Stupeflix and allows you to select video clips and photos to combine them into a single video, while Splice by Vemory lets you edit videos using advanced features.

GoPro said it plans to merge Replay and Splice into its mobile strategy in order to “deliver ultra-convenient, yet powerful, mobile editing solutions to GoPro customers and billions of smartphone users.” Both apps are now available for iOS, with Android releases still planned for later this year, as GoPro said their teams will maintain operations at their locations in Paris and Austin, respectively.

GoPro told Forbes that it paid $105 million in cash and stock to buy the two companies behind Replay and Splice. The idea is that theese apps should make editing GoPro clips much easier and tolerable going forward. Also, instead of using third-party apps and software, you’ll now have robust editing solutions to access directly from GoPro.

What’s on your HDTV: 4K Blu-ray, ‘Creed,’ ‘Zelda’ and ‘Mythbusters’

Somehow, season four of House of Cards arriving this week doesn’t feel like that big of a deal. Beyond Netflix’s flagship series, we’re looking forward to a number of big releases, including the first big slew of Ultra HD Blu-ray discs. Some of the better movies of the 4K and HDR-mastered bunch include multiple Oscar-winner Mad Max: Fury Road and Sicario. Unfortunately, for other Academy Award-caliber flicks like Creed, The Room and The Danish Girl, 1080p will have to do (for now).

This is also the final week for Discovery’s Mythbusters, which airs its series finale Saturday night. Last but not least, Nintendo is dropping a remastered version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess in HD on the Wii U Friday. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• Creed
• Room
• The Danish Girl
• Legend
• The Night Before
• Death Note (Complete series)
• The Fall (S2)
• Mad Max: Fury Road (4K)
• Sicario (4K)
• The Last Witch Hunter (4K)
• X-Men: Days of Future Past (4K)
• The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (4K)
• Salt (4K)
• The Maze Runner (4K)
• Hancock (4K)
• Chappie (4K)
• Ender’s Game (4K)
• Life of Pi (4K)
• The Expendables 3 (4K)
• San Andreas (4K)
• Pan (4K)
• The Smurfs 2 (4K)
• Pineapple Express (4K)
• Collider (PC)
• Worlds (PC)
• Broforce (PS4)
• McDROID (PS4)
• TRON RUN/r (Xbox One)
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Awakening DLC (PC, Xbox One)
• Shadow of the Beast (PS4)
• Bus Simulator 16 (PS4)
• Gunscape (PC, Xbox One, PS4)
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (Wii U – March 4)

Monday

• 11.22.63, Hulu, 3AM
• The Voice (season premiere), NBC, 8PM
• Gotham (spring premiere), Fox, 8PM
• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, CW, 8PM
• The Fosters, Freeform, 8PM
• WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
• American Dad, TBS, 8:30PM
• Mavis!, HBO, 9PM
• Major Crimes, TNT, 9PM
• Lucifer, Fox, 9PM
• The Magicians, Syfy, 9PM
• Top Gear, BBC America, 9PM
• Blindspot (winter premiere), NBC, 10PM
• Better Call Saul, AMC, 10PM
• Billion Dollar Wreck, History, 10PM
• Castle, ABC, 10PM
• Lost Girl, Syfy, 10PM
• Independent Lens, PBS, 10PM
• NCIS, CBS, 10PM
• Talking Saul, AMC, 11PM
• Bitten, Syfy, 11PM
• True Life: My Parents Are In Porn, MTV, 11PM

Tuesday

• The New Yorker Presents, Amazon, 3AM
• New Girl, Fox, 8PM
• Finding Your Roots, PBS, 8PM
• The Flash, CW, 8PM
• Pretty Little Liars, Freeform, 8PM
• Here We Go Again, TV One, 8PM
• The Muppets (season finale), ABC, 8PM
• NCIS, CBS, 8PM
• Grandfathered, Fox, 8:30PM
• Rizzoli & Isles, TNT, 9PM
• The Outsiders, WGN, 9PM
• Brooklyn Nine-nine, Fox, 9PM
• Shadowhunters, Freeform, 9PM
• Chicago Med, NBC, 9PM
• Marvel’s Agent Carter (season finale), ABC, 9PM
• Moonshiners, Discovery, 9PM
• NCIS: New Orleans, CBS, 9PM
• Teen Wolf, MTV, 9PM
• The Grinder, Fox, 9:30PM
• Super Tuesday Election Coverage, ABC/CBS/NBC/CNN, 10PM
• Gonzaga: The March to Madness, HBO, 10PM
• Tosh.0, Comedy Central, 10PM
• American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson, FX, 10PM
• The Shannara Chronicles (season finale), MTV, 10PM
• Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, Comedy Central, 10:30PM

Wednesday

• The Middle, ABC, 8PM
• Unsung, TV One, 8PM
• Survivor, CBS, 8PM
• Rosewood (spring premiere), Fox, 8PM
• Young & Hungry, Freeform, 8PM
• The Mysteries of Laura, NBC, 8PM
• Mike & Molly, CBS, 8:30PM
• Baby Daddy, Freeform, 8:30PM
• The Real O’Neals (series premiere), ABC, 8:30PM
• Supernatural, CW, 9PM
• Dual Survival, Discovery, 9PM
• Face Off, Syfy, 9PM
• Law & Order: SVU, NBC, 9PM
• The Next: 15, TV One, 9PM
• Black-ish, ABC, 9:30PM
• Hap & Leonard (series premiere), Sundance, 10P<
• Catfish, MTV, 10PM
• Broad City, Comedy Central, 10PM
• Suits (season finale), USA, 10PM
• Chicago PD, NBC, 10PM
• CSI: Cyber, CBS, 10PM
• American Crime, ABC, 10PM
• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, FXX, 10PM
• Man Seeking Woman, FXX, 10:30PM
• Teachers, TV Land, 10:30PM
• MTV Suspect, 11PM
• Joking Off, MTV2, 11PM

Thursday

• You, Me, and the Apocalypse, NBC, 8PM
• Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 8PM
• American Idol, Fox, 8PM
• DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, CW, 8PM
• WWE SmackDown, USA, 8PM
• Life in Pieces, CBS, 8:30PM
• The Family (series premiere), ABC, 9PM
• The 100, CW, 9PM
• Mom, CBS, 9PM
• 2 Broke Girls, CBS, 9:30PM
• How to Get Away with Murder, ABC, 10PM
• Prey, BBC America, 9PM
• Baskets, FX, 10PM
• Portlandia, IFC, 10PM
• Workaholics, Comedy Central, 10PM
• Shades of Blue, NBC, 10PM
• Elementary, CBS, 10PM
• Colony, USA, 10PM
• Shades of Blue, NBC, 10PM
• Nightwatch, A&E, 10PM
• Idiotsitter, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
• Dark Net, Showtime, 11PM
• Adam Devine’s House Party (season premiere), Comedy Central, 12:30AM

Friday

• House of Cards (S4), Netflix, 3AM
• Lego Bionicle (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• Lego Friends (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• The Amazing Race, CBS, 8PM
• Sleepy Hollow, Fox, 8PM
• The Vampire Diaries, CW, 8PM
• Dr. Ken, ABC, 8:30PM
• Grimm, NBC, 9PM
• Hawaii Five-0, CBS, 9PM
• The Originals, CW, 9PM
• Second Chance, Fox, 9PM
• Shark Tank, ABC, 9PM
• Blue Bloods, CBS, 10PM
• Vice, HBO, 11PM
• Animals, HBO, 11:30PM

Saturday

• Mythbusters (series finale), Discovery, 8PM
• NBA: Rockets/Bulls, ABC, 8:30PM
• Nightmare Nurse, Lifetime 8PM
• Black Sails, Starz, 9PM
• Mythbusters: The Reunion, Discovery, 9PM
• Saturday Night Live: Jonah Hill/Future, NBC, 11:30PM

Sunday

• NASCAR Sprint Cup Series @ Las Vegas, Fox, 3:30PM
• 60 Minutes, CBS, 7PM
• Bordertown, Fox, 7PM
• The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth, Showtime 8PM
• The Simpsons, Fox, 8PM
• Madam Secretary, CBS, 8PM
• Once Upon A Time, ABC, 8PM
• Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life, Fox, 8:30PM
• Vinyl, HBO, 9PM
• The Walking Dead, AMC, 9PM
• Downton Abbey (season finale), PBS, 9PM
• The Last Man on Earth (spring premiere), Fox, 9:30PM
• Girls, HBO, 10PM
• Talking Dead, AMC, 10PM
• Quantico (spring premiere), ABC, 10PM
• Togetherness, HBO, 10:30PM
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, 11PM

Enter now for a shot at the new Samsung Galaxy S7!

Here we go! Samsung has announced their latest edition, the Galaxy S7. We just wrapped up a contest giving one of our awesome Android Central readers a free S7 (winner will be announced soon!) and thought it would be fun to go ahead and give away another S7 to a second reader! Keep reading for all the information you need to get yourself entered in this giveaway!

How to Enter: PLEASE NOTE, LEAVING A COMMENT DOES NOT ENTER YOU INTO THE CONTEST. Head down to the widget at the bottom of this page. There are multiple ways to enter, each with varying point values. For example, you can submit a photo to show us how excited you are for the S7 to gain 20 entries instantly! It’s easy, just hit the option then upload from Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or your computer. You can also answer a simple question for 10 entries, comment on a specific thread in the forums for 10 entries, and follow us on various social media channels for even more entries. Complete all of the tasks for maximum entries and your best shot at winning!

The giveaway is open until March 8th, and winners will be announced on the blog shortly after the close date.

The Prize: One super lucky Android Central reader will take home a brand new Samsung Galaxy S7!

Please note that service is not included with the phone. Also, in the event that the winner resides outside of the United States, the prize maybe be subject to duties and taxes, which are the responsibility of the winner.

Good luck everybody!

Win a brand new Samsung Galaxy S7 from Android Central!

Samsung Galaxy S7

• Galaxy S7 and S7 edge hands-on
• Galaxy S7 and S7 edge specs
• Here are all four Galaxy S7 colors
• Details on the Galaxy S7’s camera
• The SD card is back on the GS7
• Join our Galaxy S7 forums

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