China is blocking access to Medium

The People’s Republic of China is notorious for keeping its citizens from accessing free media, be that online or offline. Thousands of sites are blocked by the country’s “great firewall,” and there’s a new entry to that list: Medium. According to GreatFire.org, a site that keeps tabs on China’s censorship efforts, Medium.com has been blocked entirely within the country since April 12th.

The block on Medium isn’t a huge surprise. The platform originally started as a quick and easy blogging tool, but in recent months it has become a bigger source for news, both from established publishers like The Awl and The Ringer (led by Bill Simmons) as well as plenty of independent journalists. Medium is also working on monetization efforts, with plans to launch native advertising from companies like Bose, Nest and Intel.

All that is to say that as Medium’s importance in disseminating information grows, it was perhaps inevitable that the site would catch the attention of China’s censors. Medium now joins a list of masively important internet sites and services including basically all of Google, Twitter, Dropbox, YouTube and Facebook as well as any non-state news media.

Via: Masahble

Source: GreatFire.org

Get started with Fitbit Alta – CNET

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Fitbit Alta with an iPhone 6S.

Jason Cipriani/CNET

The Fitbit Alta isn’t all that different from the company’s previous activity trackers, but it does have a few new tricks up its sleeve. Or is it up your sleeve? Either way, here’s what you need to know to get started with the Alta.

Fitbit Alta’s app

Fitbit’s app is where you’ll set up the device, view your daily progress and customize settings. The app is free for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. If you want to view your Fitbit progress from a computer, you can also install the desktop application — all your activity will be synced there, too.

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A few random screens from the Fitbit Alta setup process.

Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET

Once you create a Fitbit account, the app will walk you through setting up the tracker and connecting it to your phone or tablet. During the process, you’ll choose a watch face, tell the app which wrist you’ll wear the band on and learn about some basic controls, like tapping on the band to turn on the screen.

Customize notifications

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Fitbit Alta notifications settings.

Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET

Like the Fitbit Blaze, the Alta can push alerts from your smartphone to the band. The text on the band is vertical (your notifications appear sideways), but still useful for glancing at text messages, screening calls and getting calendar notifications.

On iOS, open the Fitbit app and tap on the Account > Alta >Notifications. Now enable each type of notification you’d like to receive with the toggle switch. When you’re done, you’ll be asked to approve an additional pairing request for the changes to take effect.

The steps for Android are similar, but include an extra step to approve Notification Access for the Fitbit app.

Move reminders

The Alta is currently the only Fitbit device that sends hourly reminders to get up and keep moving when you haven’t hit the default goal of 250 steps/hour. If you like the reminders, but they’re coming too often, you can customize the frequency.

Open the app and go to the Account tab > Alta > Reminders to Move. Here you can disable the feature altogether, or fine-tune the days and time frames when you’ll get reminders.

Other useful tips

There are a lot more ways to customize your Alta. Here are a few more settings worth checking out:

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Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET

• During initial setup, the app asked what you wanted to be called. If you skipped past this screen or want to go by a different name, you can adjust this in the device’s settings screen under Greeting.
• Adjust the Quick View setting to change what happens you raise your wrist to view the screen. With the setting turned off, nothing will happen. With it turned on, the clock will display.
• You can replace your band with one of Fitbit’s other colorful options. Remove the default band by pressing down on the clips on either side of the device, where it meets the band. While holding the clip in, slide the band up. Reverse these steps to install a new band.

If you have a Fitbit Blaze, be sure to check out our getting started guide for the company’s fitness-first smartwatch.

Samsung Galaxy S7 versus Nexus 5X: Same size, different audiences

When it comes to getting a ‘compact’ phone, your options are a bit limited. These phones do it, but for very different prices.

A good number of smartphone fans were excited to see that with the latest generation of Galaxy S phones, Samsung decided to keep its flagship a very modest size. The Galaxy S7 has just a 5.1-inch screen, which is pretty small for today’s standards and is even notably smaller than its sibling devices the Galaxy S7 edge.

Much the same story played out late last year with Google’s Nexus device release, where it resurrected the spirit of the Nexus 5 in the brand new Nexus 5X. The screen size jumped just a tad, but this is very much a “smaller” phone at 5.2-inches diagonal screen size and generally with small dimensions compared to the big ‘ol Nexus 6P.

But even though both of these phones have the same appeal to those who want something a bit more compact to carry around every day, they each target different audiences beyond that. Right off the start pricing is a huge differentiator, and the phones have divergent takes on hardware and software. Despite the differences, we want to see how these two phones compare head-to-head. Here’s a look at the Galaxy S7 and the Nexus 5X.

Hardware and specs

If you’re someone who enjoys having a smaller phone that’s easy to wrap a single hand around and use without worry of dropping it, you’ll be happy with either of these phones. Though the Nexus 5X is a tad larger thanks to bigger bezels, both phones are compact and stand out from the large screens covering the mobile landscape. They’re also both thin and light, with rounded corners and edges along the back.

Beyond that, just about every detail pertaining to the hardware on these phones is different. Just at a glance you can already tell that the Galaxy S7 is manufactured from better materials and executed to a higher standard, and with your hands on both you’d be hard-pressed not to lean toward the great feel of Samsung’s latest. The metal and glass come together absolutely perfectly on the GS7, and even if you prefer a plastic phone the Nexus 5X isn’t exactly the best example of what can be done in polycarbonate.

Compact phone fans will enjoy holding both, but the GS7’s hardware is on another level.

What you’re holding onto is a big part of the hardware equation, but so is what you’re looking at: the screen. Saying that the Galaxy S7 has a better screen shouldn’t come as any surprise here, because that’s going to be the case no matter what you compare it to. But in this case, the delta is a bit larger with the Nexus 5X. The 1080p LCD on the Nexus is good, for sure, but it doesn’t exhibit the great saturation of Samsung’s latest — nor does it come anywhere close to the brightness or daylight visibility.

Coming to the line-item specs, you can’t really find a place where the Galaxy S7 isn’t ahead. The Snapdragon 820 (or, where applicable, Exynos 8 Octa) processor is far ahead of the Snapdragon 808 in the Nexus, as is the 4GB of RAM that doubles the competitor. The default storage is doubled, too, at 32GB and also offers an SD card slot for expansion. The GS7 has a larger 3000 mAh battery, but also has wireless charging that was unfortunately left out of the Nexus 5X. And you can’t talk hardware without mentioning the GS7’s complete waterproofing.

Despite the overall lead the Galaxy S7 has here, the Nexus 5X definitely stands up to it in a few areas. The Nexus 5X’s fingerprint sensor is absolutely up to speed with the GS7’s, and in some people’s eyes better due to its rear placement. Its USB-C port is definitely preferable overall compared to the old micro-USB connector, and the front-facing speaker, while not necessarily louder, is dramatically better for sending sound toward you and not being blocked by your hand when in use. And while the Nexus 5X’s plastic may not feel great, it doesn’t pile up smudges and get slippery like the Galaxy S7’s glass.

Software and performance

If you’ll recall, we dove into this software comparison a little while back when setting the Galaxy S7 edge up against the Nexus 6P — things are the same here. Even though both phones are running Android 6.0 Marshmallow, there are obviously very clear differences in flavoring applied.

Samsung’s take on software can be a bit polarizing, particularly if you’re someone who has taken a liking to the way Google does things on the Nexus 5X. The Galaxy S7 has a lot more baked-in features and apps, along with some visual changes that are cohesive albeit a little heavy-handed compared to the “stock” Marshmallow offering. The GS7 is very much capable of handling all of this extra overhead, but that doesn’t mean you necessarily are.

Aside from the simpler and easier-to-understand interface that the Nexus 5X offers, there’s something to be said for its basic set of pre-installed apps. Unlike the GS7, the Nexus 5X doesn’t come pre-loaded with tons of apps you can’t remove, and it offers just one app to do each task — no duplicate email, messaging, calendar and gallery apps to deal with. And that’s before you get to all of the carrier cruft that you’re going to have to deal with when you buy the Galaxy S7 in the U.S.

The GS7 can handle all of the extra software overhead, but that doesn’t mean you can.

There’s also the discussion of security updates. The Nexus 5X can of course count on getting them monthly from Google without any hiccups, and while Samsung has definitely stepped up its cadence the sheer number of models it has to support often slows things down. At this point you can expect to get a “monthly” update about every other month, and while that’s a big improvement it certainly isn’t as reliable as what the Nexus gets.

A much-needed performance update hit the Nexus 5X in March, bringing it from a frustrating experience up to a capable performer. Even still, its Snapdragon 808 processor and 2GB of RAM just can’t push its software fast enough to catch the top-performing Galaxy S7.

Using the Nexus 5X daily you’ll be able to find some slowdowns here and there when working in heavier apps or quickly switching between several apps in a short period, and when you set it side-by-side with the Galaxy S7 the speed differences are pronounced. I wasn’t able to find a single situation where the Galaxy S7 was slower than the Nexus 5X, and that’s not completely unexpected. Though the Nexus 5X is perfectly capable of handling everything I threw at it, it was just a couple beats slower than the industry-topping GS7.

And even though the Galaxy S7 performs better, it also offers longer battery life. Now that makes sense when seeing the 3000 mAh battery that’s larger than the Nexus 5X’s 2700, and you can probably expect about 15% longer battery life out of the GS7. Both phones of course offer great fast charging solutions, but not having to worry about that as often is a great feature of the Galaxy S7 — the Nexus 5X just comes up short in battery on a regular basis.

Camera quality

Samsung was coming from a position of strength with an absolutely wonderful camera on the Galaxy S6, and chose to make some dramatic changes with the Galaxy S7. The move to a lower megapixel count in conjunction with larger individual pixel size is a big one, and it’s arguably an overall side-step in quality from what we had before. On the other side of things, Nexuses have historically had very compromised (and just straight-up bad) cameras, but the Nexus 5X (and of course 6P) is easily the best Google has ever put out.

Numbers-wise we’re looking at 12-megapixels from both cameras, though the Nexus 5X has larger individual pixels at 1.55-microns (versus 1.4-microns). The GS7 has a faster f/1.7 lens, as well as OIS, to support that sensor. Take a look at a few side-by-side comparison shots here:

Galaxy S7 (left) / Nexus 5X (right); click images to view larger

It only takes a few shots with these cameras to see their personalities in taking photos. The GS7 lets in an obscene amount of light into every photo, regardless of whether you use HDR, and pumps up the saturation in colors across the board — sometimes to a fault. On the other end, the Nexus 5X is rightly criticized for having a very low dynamic range, and often reproduces the scene closer to life but not necessarily in a bright or appealing-to-the-eye way.

The results are closer than you may think.

What’s interesting to see is how much more detail the Nexus 5X is able to capture, particularly when using its (admittedly slow) HDR+ mode. Even zooming in slightly to photos shows how crisp and clear every shot is, even compared to the Galaxy S7, which is no small feat. The Galaxy S7 is definitely an overall better camera, especially when it comes to quickly capturing photos in a variety of conditions, but the contest is closer than you might think — the Nexus 5X offers more realistic photos and better clarity in most shots, it just leans heavily on HDR+ to accomplish it.

While the merits of the photo quality from each phone are easily debated, it’s tough to say that the Galaxy S7 doesn’t come out on top in terms of its camera software. Even though the Nexus 5X’s software is simplistic and easy to understand, the Galaxy S7 manages to keep things simple as well while also enabling advanced features to be at your fingertips. The interface from Samsung gives you quick toggles for your most-used features, while hiding a full “Pro” mode for those who want it. It’s also just downright faster than the Nexus 5X, from processing photos to general navigation.

Read: Camera showdown: Galaxy S7 vs. Nexus 6P vs. iPhone 6s Plus vs. Lumia 950

The bottom line

Naturally, this comparison will start and end with a discussion of price and value. At a starting price of $349, the Nexus 5X is at least $300 less than a Galaxy S7. Even bumping up the storage to 32GB to match the Galaxy S7’s default configuration, you’re saving at least $250. Considering Project Fi? If so, the $199 Nexus 5X is a whopping $450 less than a Galaxy S7. That’s not even close — in some cases multiple times the cost — in terms of pricing, and that should weigh heavily on the conclusions in this comparison.

These phones target different audiences — and price is the biggest factor here.

The Galaxy S7 obviously offers better external and internal hardware, more features, a better screen and an overall better camera. The Nexus 5X has a few key features that are nice, along with much cleaner software and appeal to those who like simplicity — all while not giving up too much in terms of performance or camera quality.

Obviously this is a bit of a lopsided fight, but that’s why we have the great equalizer of price involved. The Galaxy S7 is definitely the better overall phone here, but is it nearly twice as good as a Nexus 5X, as the price suggests? I wouldn’t go anywhere near saying that’s the case, but there’s never a linear relationship between price and phone quality.

Someone looking for a solid, budget-friendly phone with sprinkles of high-end experience will get one heck of a phone in the Nexus 5X. If you want to spend top-dollar and get a corresponding top-end experience, the Galaxy S7 is the only one that’s going to satisfy.

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge

• Galaxy S7 review
• Galaxy S7 edge review
• Here are all four Galaxy S7 colors
• Should you upgrade to the Galaxy S7?
• Learn about the Galaxy S7’s SD card slot
• Join our Galaxy S7 forums

AT&T
Sprint
T-Mobile
Verizon

Nexus 5X

• Nexus 5X review
• 5 things to know about the Nexus 5X
• Read the latest Nexus 5X news
• Learn about Nexus Protect insurance
• Learn about Project Fi
• Join the Nexus 5X forums
• Nexus 5X specs

Google
B&H Photo
Amazon

Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P are $50 off at the Google Store through May 6

If you still haven’t picked up a Nexus 5X or Nexus 6P, and have been waiting for them to go on sale again, here is your chance. The Google Store is again offering $50 off the purchase of either phone now through May 6. This means that you can pick up the Nexus 5X starting at $299, or the Nexus 6P for $450.

While $50 may not seem like a huge savings, it is enough to cover the cost of one of Google’s new Nexus Live Cases and still leave you a little extra in your pocket. The deal runs through May 6, so you have some time. Will this $50 savings be enough to put a new Nexus in your pocket? Let us know what you think in the comments!

See at Google Store

Nexus 6P

• Nexus 6P review
• 5 things to know about the Nexus 6P
• Read the latest Nexus 6P news
• Learn about Project Fi
• Join our Nexus 6P forums
• Nexus 6P specs

Google Store
Huawei
Best Buy

Do you want a free pass to SDC 2016? Enter now and you could win one!

With 10 categories and 70+ sessions to choose from, SDC has something for everyone!

The Samsung Developer Conference is the premier event for Samsung platform news and information, and it’s just a couple of weeks away! The event spans 2 days, over 150 speakers and 100 sessions. It’s designed for developers, for creators, for builders. For the curious. For you. Samsung and partners will showcase the technology and solutions that will disrupt the future and change the way we live – from healthcare to virtual reality to wearables and IoT. Check out the latest gadgets and tools at SDC 2016.

Sounds awesome, right? Well, it’s about to get more awesome, because we’ve secured free passes for 10 people!

The prize: 10 people are going to get a FREE pass to the conference. This is a full conference pass providing access to everything happening on April 27 and 28, in San Francisco, CA. Please note, if you win you are responsible for all travel and accommodations.

To enter: Head to the widget below and enter! There are multiple methods, and if you complete them all you’ll have the maximum chance of winning. Since the event is approaching pretty quickly, we’re going to keep it short and end it Monday. Winners will be posted here and notified via email with instructions for redeeming their pass. Good luck everyone!

Enter to win a free pass to the Samsung Developer Conference!

Google aims for transparency with updated user data rules on the Chrome Web Store

Google is moving to make sure that users are completely aware of what data is collected from apps and extensions on the Chrome Web Store. In a new blog post, Google outlines some updates to the Chrome Web Store’s User Data Policy that should “ensure transparency and choice” for users.

As part of the changes, Google highlights three main requirements for developers going forward:

• Be transparent about the handling of user data and disclose privacy practices
• Post a privacy policy and use encryption, when handling personal or sensitive information, and
• Ask users to consent to the collection of personal or sensitive data via a prominent disclosure, when the use of the data isn’t related to a prominent feature.

Of course, there are other changes to be aware of as well, and Chrome Web Store developers can check out the full policy on the Chrome developer site for more. Google says developers have until July 14 to comply with the new policy, and the company will alert developers if it discovers items that violate the new policy in the interim. On July 15, apps and extensions that still violate the new rules will be removed from the Web Store.

Best over-ear headphones: As chosen by Mobile Nations editors

In-ear headphones are good, but sometimes you just need something more substantial

On and over-ear headphones aren’t the most convenient things in the world, and as such many will turn to in-ear options for things like the daily commute or hitting the gym. But if you want that all-encompassing experience and the best sound quality possible, you’re likely going to want a good set of cans.

To help get you started if you’re in the market for a new pair we’ve rounded up some of Mobile Nations’ finest headphone wearers to tell you what their favorites are and why.

You can find a great set of headphones across the price spectrum, and we’ve got options from the relatively inexpensive to the downright luxurious.

Sub-$100

DJ Reyes – Skullcandy Navigator

When sitting at home at my desk, or couch, I prefer to reach for over-the-ear headphones rather than in-ear ones and my preferred choice is the Skullcandy Navigator. I can adjust them exactly to how I want them on my head and they’re ever so comfortable too, thanks to the memory foam ear pieces. I wear glasses and I can wear these for a lengthy period of time without feeling like my glasses are slowly being used to crush the sides of my head.

Apart from comfort, the Navigator has decent sounds too. Nice ‘bassy’ tones good enough for me. It’s got a 1.2 metre cord which is definitely a plus and they’re detachable too. There’s also an in-line microphone plus volume keys whic always come in handy if I need to take a call. I can’t go without a pair of headphones without an inline microphone.

This model has been around for a while but they’re comfortable and meet my sound needs exactly the way I want.

See at Amazon

$100 – $300

Derek Kessler – Bang & Olufsen B&O Play H6

Simply put, the Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H6 headphones have fantastic balanced sound. Too many headphones these days have terribly distorted sound profiles that pump up the bass way too much and even play too much with the high trebles. I want to hear my music how it was meant to be heard, how the musicians recorded it and how they worked with the studio to master it. And for that, I turn to my H6 headphones — clean, crisp, and balanced.

On top of that, the B&O H6’s are impressively lightweight. Unlike some other manufacturers *cough*beats*cough* that have been accused of adding weight to their headphones to make them feel premium, the H6 headphones embrace being lightweight. This makes them easy to justify packing and even easier to wear for hours and hours. My only real knock is the lack of noise cancellation — I’ve got a pair of Bose QC25 noise-cancelling headphones that I use for flying; they don’t sound as good, but they’re great for the droning noise of a jetliner.

And then there’s style. Sure, it doesn’t impact how they sound, but if you’re the least bit style conscious you want your headphones to at least look decent if you’re going to wear them in public. B&O’s gear has always been simply stylish. Like their sound, the H6 headphones have a clean and tidy look to them, but you can still pick from a mix of colors to find the pair that match your personal style.

Sure, there’s no upper limit to how much you can spend on headphones, but that’s a game of diminishing returns — at a certain point you start spending exorbitant amounts of money and only getting marginal improvements in return. At around $300, the Bang & Olufsen H6’s hit the sweet spot — they’re pricier than some may consider spending on headphones, but they’re not yet at that point where you’re pouring money down the drain in search of the absolute best audio quality.

See at Amazon

Simon Sage – Sennheiser Momentum

I’ve been using a pair of the first generation Sennheiser Momentum headphones for a couple of months now, and I’ve been pleased with the results. Generally I’ve got headphones on all day long, so comfort is a high priority. To that end, the Momentum headphones are extremely light and have a wide range of adjustability. While contact along the top with the head is minimal, the insulation around the ear is thick without adding too much pressure. That means you get all of the sound without anything leaking out (or in, for that matter). In terms of audio quality, the Sennheiser Momentum is very well-balanced. There’s sufficient bass without going overboard, good volume, and crystal clarity.

The wiring side deserve some recognition too. The headphone jack has sturdy construction with an articulated joint. This makes me feel confident about longevity, as the jack is common place for wear-and-tear to do the most damage. Higher up is an in-line microphone and media playback controls. These support both Google Now and Siri prompts. The one catch is that you’ll need to buy a separate cable for Android volume control.

Personally, I don’t like going on the move with a big pair of headphones, but for those that do, the Sennheiser Momentum comes with a hard carrying case and spare cable which can be easily swapped in should your wire get damaged.

These headphones are a little on the older side now, which means you can get a pretty great price for them. Based on my experience, I would consider splurging on the second-generation Sennheiser Momentum headphones, especially since you can get those with the Android cable in the box, or as a wireless version.

See at Amazon

James Falconer – Bose QC25

The Bose QC25’s are my favorites for many reasons:

First, they’re comfortable and the materials used are quality. Put them on and they stay put, and are very easy to adjust.

Second, they look great. I went with the white and tan combo, and they really do look sharp. Other color combos are available, and Bose does run limited editions from time to time, so keep an eye open for those if you’re interested.

Third, they’re actually quite compact. I always carry these in my backpack, as they take up very little room. Very handy when traveling or on the go.

Fourth (and speaking of travel), there’s nothing better for noise canceling in my opinion. If you travel by plane a lot, you MUST consider these. You don’t realize how loud the engine noise is on a plane until you put on the QC25’s and turn them on! The noise cancelling makes a big difference, and helps me focus on work, reading, or get a more restful nap while in the air.

See at Amazon

Daniel Rubino – Bose QuietComfort QC15

When flying I always go for noise-canceling headphones as the engine noise has shown to cause or enhance fatigue when traveling. I already have enough stress when flying that the loud constant humming of the jet engines is something I like to avoid.

Bose has a great reputation (plus they are based only a few miles from me) that I prefer their style and technology. Over-the-ear can be tricky as usually I have experienced discomfort after a few hours at the apex of the skull. I have never had that issue with Bose, which even after 5 or 6 hours still feel just as comfortable on my head as when I first put them on.

Make no mistake: they are not cheap. But they will the only over-the-ear headphones you need to buy making it a worthy investment. Don’t try to save yourself $50 and go for the next-best thing, just try these on instead.

See at Amazon

Over $300

Jerry Hildenbrand – OPPO PM-3 Closed-Back Planar Magnetic Headphones

I’m one of those people who puts too much thought and too much money into audio equipment. I demand a certain level of quality from the music I purchase, as well as the equipment I use. I’ve been a longtime user of Sony studio over-the-ear cans (because of the wonderfully flat audio profile and excellent sound quality at moderate volume) but recently I found my next purchase — OPPO’s PM-3 ‘phones.

They aren’t exciting when it comes to they way they look. They fit well, but I’ve tried others who fit just as well. I’m impressed by the weight, but that also isn’t why I’m saying the PM-3s are the best. It’s all about how they sound to me.

They are true audiophile equipment, with a modest (for high-end audio equipment anyway) price tag. Isolation is excellent, even with the relatively light weight and easy fit — you don’t have to have cans squeeze the hell out of your head to get immersed in your music with the PM-3s. Your music sounds fantastic. Everything is balanced, with just a bit of roll off at the high end of the spectrum. Bass and mids are damn near perfect, and distortion is nowhere to be seen at normal (read: LOUD AS HELL) listening volumes. If you have high quality music files, and high-end equipment to drive them, you won’t be disappointed.

I’ve tried hundreds of pairs of headphones. The folks at my local Crutchfield and Musician’s Friend know me by name. The OPPO PM-3s sound as good as models costing thousands of dollars. If want more from your music, a pair of PM-3s and a good amp/DAC combo is a great way to get it.

See at Amazon

Lory Gil – Logitech UE 9000

Logitech is known for making great quality speakers and they did not disappoint me when it came to over-the-ear headphones. The bass booms inside my head when I’m blasting heavy beats, but it also brings the noise when I’m shredding metal. The highs and lows are perfectly balanced and music come through crystal clear at low and high volumes. When I’ve got the volume down low, I can hear what’s going on around me, which I appreciate when I’m riding my bike on city streets.

The ear cup has a nice thick cushioned soft leather padding. The headband is tight enough to feel secure without hurting my head. A lot of over-the-ear headphones are too big for me, but the UE 9000 fit perfectly. There are on-board controls for playback and volume right on the outside of the ear cups when I’m listening wirelessly. Or, if I want to connect to my iPhone using the 3.5mm cable, I have the added bonus of a working microphone for taking calls.

Logitech’s UE 9000 are, by far, the best over-the-ear headphones I’ve every used.

See at Amazon

Where should you host your 360-degree videos?

Recording a 360-degree video is the easy part. Sharing it with everyone is where you have a decision to make.

One of the things that made 3D functionality on smartphones die so quickly was the inability to share your experiences with anyone else. Hooray, you captured this thing in 3D mode. Now what? For the most part, there was no answer.

Sharing 360-degree videos doesn’t have the same problem. In fact, you’re spoiled for choice. With Facebook and YouTube supporting 360 degree videos, and just about every manufacturer of 360-degree cameras offering its own hosting service for the images and videos your create, choosing where to host and share your 360-degree videos becomes more about the kind of experience you want your viewers to have, and less about the video itself.

Here’s a look at a video captured on a 360fly camera that has been uploaded to Facebook, YouTube, and the 360fly video service, to see which serves your needs best.

360fly

As the creator of the camera and its software, you’d expect the 360fly hosting service to have the best quality when viewing your video. While that’s certainly true of this video, the player is missing a number of features. There’s only a couple of places you can easily share the link to this video to, and none of them grab your attention and let you know there’s something cool happening here. You can’t fullscreen the video in your browser, and you need the 360fly app to watch the video on your phone. It’s not the easiest to share, but it sure looks nice.

Facebook

Using 360fly as a dash cam

Checking out 360fly in the car

Posted by Russell Holly on Sunday, April 10, 2016

Facebook doesn’t make it particularly easy to embed its videos elsewhere — you have to snag the embed code from the post on your timeline — but it’s available immediately in auto-playing to anyone following you. Seeing a 360-degree video auto-playing in your feed is incredibly cool, grabbing your attention immediately and encouraging you to play along. The quality is degraded both on the app and the browser when compared to the 360fly service and YouTube, but it’s on Facebook and immediately gets plenty of attention.

YouTube

As the golden standard for free video uploads the world over, there’s a feeling of inevitability when it comes to publishing a video on YouTube. It guarantees just about everyone has a way to watch it, and on mobile there’s and interactive quality with 360-degree videos that is worth noting. Like other YouTube video formats, uploading a 360-degree video can take a little while to fully process, which means the quality suffers a bit for the first hour the video has been published to YouTube. After that, you have a video that looks nice on just about every screen and can be viewed in Google Cardboard with the push of a button.

There are clear reasons to want to use any — or even all — of these services to host you 360 video. YouTube and Facebook are all about the audience you’re trying to reach, but if your 360 camera manufacturer offers a decent hosting solution it’s probably worth considering. What really matters is that you can share what you’ve captured with everyone, something that has never been easier than it is right now.

Apple accidentally reveals OS X will be rebranded as MacOS

Apple may soon stop referring to its desktop operating system as OS X.

Alongside its Earth Day 2016 announcements, Apple updated this FAQ webpage to explain to consumers how it cares about the environment and what it is doing to report carbon emissions, among other things. While that sounds boring at first blush, 9to5Mac noticed something rather interesting buried in the text: Apple used the term “MacOS”.

“Years of use, which are based on first owners, are assumed to be four years for MacOS and tvOS devices”, Apple reportedly wrote, according to circulating screenshots of the text, though the Mac-maker has since updated the webpage to remove any references to MacOS. It now uses “OS X”.

Apple / 9to5Mac

Apple began using OS X in 1999, when Mac OS X Sever 1.0 replaced Mac OS 9. Mac OS X v10.0 Cheetah followed in 2001, and ever since then, the Cupertino-based company has maintained the naming convention, with the latest version of the desktop operating system being called Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan. 

Keep in mind Apple dropped another hint that it plans to re-brand its desktop operating system to MacOS. An OS X 10.11.4 framework was spotted last month using the MacOS naming scheme, for instance. We can conclude that either someone at Apple keeps messing up, or a name-change is coming.

It’s not hard to see why Apple would rebrand OS X. The company’s other operating systems are called watchOS, tvOS, and iOS; MacOS would fit in nicely. But it’s interesting to note that Apple capitalised MacOS on its environmental webpage. The company may be doing that because Mac is considered a proper noun, unlike “tv” and “watch”.

Apple is holding its annual Worldwide Developer Conference this June, when it typically gives developers and the public a first look at the latest system update for Macs, so expect to hear more from the company about this “MacOS” stuff.

Livestream’s Mevo camera lets you edit video on the fly

Broadcasting live video is one of the biggest tech trends of the last year. It started with Meerkat, but now Facebook and Twitter (via the Periscope app) are unsurprisingly the dominant players in the space. Most of that video streaming is done using smartphones, but Livestream — one of the first big players in the livestreaming video space — thinks there’s a market for dedicated video cameras. Enter Mevo, the company’s tiny, dedicated camera for streaming video to Facebook Live.

My first thought upon hearing about the camera, which was officially introduced at Facebook’s F8 conference earlier this week, was: Who exactly is Livestream targeting here? Facebook Live video has boomed in a big way with people shooting on their phones, and lots of those users aren’t going to shell out for a $399 external camera. Livestream admits that the Mevo isn’t for everyone, but the company also thinks it’s an opportunity to reach people (or businesses) who want to stream for more than a few minutes at a time.

Specifically, the Mevo camera is aimed at people who want to stream an event, be it a concert, company presentation or anything where it makes more sense to set up a camera on a stand rather than hold your phone up for a long time. From that perspective the Mevo sounds like a solid solution — not least because it lets you keep your phone in your pocket or continue to use it throughout the event you want to livestream.

The hardware itself is small and unobtrusive, with a power button on top, an LED ring around the chassis and a 150-degree lens and microphone up front. That power button also lets you automatically start livestreaming, provided you have all of your settings locked and ready to go. As for storage, the camera includes an SD slot and comes with a 16GB memory card in the box so that it’s good to go from day one. You can record video to that card, but most people who use this device are going to be interested in its livestreaming capabilities.

There are two ways to make that happen: You can connect the Mevo to a local WiFi network or stream video directly with your phone’s cellular connection. For the longer sort of streaming events that Livestream imagines users will want to do, WiFi is preferable — particularly because you’ll need to keep your phone out with the Mevo app running to livestream over cellular.

The Mevo experience can be extremely simple: Once you have the camera set up, you can automatically start broadcasting video by pressing the top button. Even so, the software allows for a significant range of editing features that can make your Mevo videos look a lot more professional. In particular, the Mevo app provides a great on-the-fly editing experience that lets you make videos that give the illusion of a multicamera setup, all with a single Mevo.

By default, the app shows what the camera sees; by tapping and pinching on the screen you can edit the video feed. For example, you can pinch the screen to zoom in on a particular part of the view, be it a closeup shot on a person’s face or something else. You can also tap the screen to automatically switch to a closer view and drag to pan around. It’s hard to explain without seeing it in action, but it’s an effective setup for editing video on the fly.

If you don’t want to do the work (or don’t have a friend handy to act as director), the Mevo app also features some auto-edit features. It has built-in face detection, and you can also tap on objects in the frame to identify them as areas to focus on. Once you’ve done that minimal setup, the app will cut between those faces and objects as it sees fit; if someone is talking animatedly, the camera might do a close cut on that person’s face and then pull back when she’s finished, for example. The results won’t be as good as those you can get with a real editor, but they’ll still likely be better than just going with a single-camera wide shot.

That’s a pretty good way to sum up Livestream’s strategy with the Mevo, in fact: The Mevo isn’t going to beat dedicated video-streaming rigs, but it’s a lot better than shooting with your iPhone. Whether it’s good enough to get people to shell out the somewhat-steep $399 asking price remains to be seen, but it’s not hard to imagine YouTube enthusiasts recording video with a Mevo. And those who love Facebook video but feel constrained by shooting with a phone will likely find the Mevo worth a look.