Essential Accessories for the LG G5

Turn your LG G5 into a workhorse with the right accessories.

Do you have your phone on you at all times ready to respond to every call, text, and email that comes your way? Do you use your phone as your primary TV, game console, and music player? If that sounds like you, then you my friend, are a power user.

Great accessories are the icing on the phone cake. You already have the the phone you want that works amazingly well, not you want those little extra pieces of hardware that just make your life that much easier. We’ve rounded up some accessories for the LG G5 you won’t want to miss out on.

• ChoeTech car charger
• Encased
• Joto LG G5 armband case
• IQ Shield screen protector
• LG G5 Cam Plus

ChoeTech Type-C car charger

If you use your LG G5 literally for everything you possibly can all the time, it may come as no surprise that you may be looking for power outlets to charge your phone as much as possible. If you find yourself needed a charge and you are in your car then the ChoeTech car charger could help you out a lot!

This car charger plugs into your car cigarette lighter port and has two USB 2.0 outlets on it so you can charge double the devices! The top port is a quick charging port that is specifically meant to get the fastest charge out of the Type-C USB connection. So as an LG G5 enthusiast such as yourself, this charger is a perfect pairing for your charging needs.

See at Amazon

Encased desktop charger

Charging your phone in your office can be a bit of a nightmare. If you are trying to do your work, and use your phone at the same time you probably start wondering why you only have two hands.

Encased makes a neat charger that allows you LG G5 to remain upright. It may not seem like much, but when you think of how many times you touch your phone in a day, having the ability to do so without holding it sounds pretty nice doesn’t?

You can plug the charger into your computer’s USB port but we suggest plugging it in directly to a wall socket for the best effect.

See at Amazon

Joto LG G5 armband case

For anyone who uses apps to workout – whether it’s heavy cardio or pumping lots of iron – an armband case is a great accessory to have. You can strap your phone to your arm and not worry about dropping or damaging it.

Joto’s armband cases is specifically made for the LG G5 so it fits the phone really well and feels really secure. The back of the armband also has a few card slots for you to store bank cards or a little cash so you can even run to do your errands no problem!

Added bonus of this armband is it’s sweat-resistant, so it works well even for those really long runs, or intense workouts.

See at Amazon

IQ Shield screen protector

Screens are delicate, and can too easily be scratched and chipped but that doesn’t need to happen to your LG G5. Screen protectors are life savers – or more accurately phone savers – that are a really good investment for anyone who want to keep their phones screen looking brand new.

IQ Shield offers a screen protector that is a little difficult to put on, but once you do it right it is immaculate. It uses a mild amount of liquid (very minor, don’t be afraid) to really make that protector stick to the screen. IQ Shield offers a lifetime warranty and will send you a new screen protector free of charge anytime the product is damaged or defective in anyway.

See at Amazon

LG G5 Cam Plus

We couldn’t talk about accessories without mentioning the coolest one right from LG themselves and that’s the Cam Plus module.

LG G5 Cam Plus module makes your phone feel like a real camera. The module snaps into bottom of the G5 and gives you access to physical keys for neat camera functions. Things like shooting,focusing, and a zoom wheel are all added with the Cam Plus.

The great thing about Cam Plus is how lightweight it is. Adding just under two ounces the module doesn’t weigh down the phone at all!

See at Best Buy

Need more things?

This is just scratching the surface of cool things you can buy to go along with your LG G5. Check out these sweet clear cases for the LG G5.

LG G5

• LG G5 review
• LG 360 CAM review
• LG G5 complete specs
• LG’s G5 Friends modules are a neat idea, but they won’t matter
• LG G5 Hi-Fi Plus w/ B&O
• Join the LG G5 discussion

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Facebook finally launches FB, IG, and Messenger apps for Windows 10

Facebook has finally embraced Windows 10 – roughly 8 months after Microsoft launched the platform.

The social network has developed and now launched Windows 10 apps for Facebook and Messenger on desktop. You can access the Facebook app from the Start Menu to immediately get to your News Feed, and Facebook has promised it will load a lot faster than the previous Facebook desktop app.

The app also serves up desktop notifications and supports Live Tiles. It of course further features the new Facebook Reactions, stickers in comments, and more. There’s even an in-app browser. The Messenger app is also native, so it will therefore serve up desktop notifications too and supports Live Tiles.

The Messenger app has all the usual features of the service, including stickers, group conversations, and GIFs. Apart from these desktop apps, Facebook is rolling out Instagram for Windows 10 Mobile. It includes the messaging feature Instagram Direct, as well as the Explore tab and video functionality.

Instagram for Windows 10 Mobile supports Live Tiles too. The new Facebook and Messenger app are available in the Windows Desktop App Store, while the Instagram app is available in Windows Phone Store. Facebook will replace the old Facebook Windows 8 listing, though you can still use the app.

Facebook also expects to roll out Facebook and Messenger apps for Windows 10 Phone “later this year”.

Vudu’s latest iPad app finally has picture-in-picture

Vudu, Walmart’s answer to Netflix, has finally brought its app up to speed with Apple’s latest hardware and iOS 9 features. The iPhone version supports 3D Touch, letting you access personal and “last watched” settings more quickly, and you can now get notifications for deals and other offers. Best of all, the iPad app supports iOS 9’s multitasking option with picture-in-picture, letting you tweet and do other stuff while you halfheartedly re-watch Fear the Walking Dead. Hulu has had that feature for months, but Vudu users get bragging rights over Netflix subscribers, who still have to (ugh) switch between apps to multitask.

Source: Vudu (iTunes)

Periscope lets you scribble on your livestreams

Just like Snapchat and a dozen other social media apps, it’s now possible to draw on Periscope. With the latest version of the iOS app, you can long-press on the screen and tap the “Sketch” option to scribble in one of three different colors. For greater control, however, you can also use the dropper tool to pick a custom color from inside your video. It could prove useful if you’re streaming and want to point out something in particular, or, if you’re bored, simply play some Pictionary with strangers online.

Additionally, Periscope has improved the amount of data that’s available to its users. These take the form of new viewer and watch time statistics. If you’re trying to get the biggest audience possible, you’re now also able to review your Periscope and see which moments brought in the largest number of viewers. That, I suspect, will appeal most to vloggers, marketers and social media managers looking to maximize their reach online.

⚡️🎥🎨🌟 Sketch while you Scope – now available on iOS! pic.twitter.com/k5JgViBnkO

— Periscope (@periscopeco) April 27, 2016

Source: Periscope (iOS)

Google revamps search in its Photos app for Android

Google Photos is one of the best apps out there for backing up and searching through the massive amount of pictures we all take with our smartphones. One of its best features is search, which lets you use natural language to quickly find specific kinds of pictures, photos taken in specific locations or photos of specific people. Today, the Android version of Google Photos is putting search even more up front. Instead of accessing it via the material design search button in the lower right corner of the app, you now access it through a persistent search bar that’s always at the top of the screen.

The layout of the search page once you tap that bar is a bit different, as well. Previously, Google showed you people, places and things (dogs, cars, concerts, etc) by default. Now, there’s a new section called “types” that is more focused on the different categories of things you shoot — videos, selfies, screenshots and so forth. To be honest, I’m not a fan of that change at first glance. It looks like there’s no way to see the different “things” view that Google Photos used to feature, and I always enjoyed looking through the various categories that Google was able to recognize from my pictures. Fortunately, search itself works the same way, so I can just search “food” if I want to see the ridiculous number of dinner photos I’ve taken over the years.

Beyond the revamped search experience, Google also added a new feature that lets you customize the movies the app automatically generates with your photos and videos. You can revamp them by picking specific videos and photos as well as adding your own music rather than the generic default tunes the app features. For now, these features are Android-only, but Google says they’ll be coming to the iOS app soon.

Source: Google

Chrome extension blocks out the names of mass shooters

Many mass shooters were motivated by their desire for fame and glory, so the Brady Campaign believes it’s time we shift our focus towards the victims. The non-profit org has released a Chrome extension called “Zero Minutes of Fame,” because when installed, the killers don’t get their 15 minutes. It blocks out the gunners’ names — so long as it’s their full names — in articles you read and even replaces their photos with pictures of the victims.

The extension’s description reads:

“30% of mass killings, and 22% of school shootings, are inspired by previous gun related events.

These events are always covered by the media, who plasters the killer’s name, image and motives all over their broadcast channels.

So, if the media continues to give these killers their 15 minutes of fame, then it’s time to take matters into our own hands.”

As The Daily Dot notes, the plug-in is largely symbolic: it will not keep the gunners’ identities and actions secret from wannabes and copycats, since you’d have to consciously opt in. If you agree with the Brady Campaign and want to show your support, though, you can download Zero Minutes of Fame from the Chrome Web Store.

Via: The Daily Dot

Source: Zero Minutes of Fame

YouTube’s first live 360-degree videos were little more than tech demos

Last week, YouTube started supporting live 360-degree video streams in a bid for more-immersive video content. Though users have been able to upload and watch 360-degree video for over a year, it’s only now that Google is introducing the option to beam such content live to thousands of viewers. Still, having the ability to broadcast this video in real time isn’t the same as delivering a compelling visual experience. Indeed, the first uses of YouTube’s new technology show that it’s going to take a lot of creative thinking from directors and designers to actually make interesting content.

The first videos were certainly high-profile: A number of bands streamed their Coachella performances in 360 degrees this weekend, and musician Dawn Richards performed a few songs live from YouTube’s Los Angeles studio last week. While I didn’t watch all the Coachella performances, what I did see from both the music festival and Dawn’s more intimate performance did little to convince me that this new format is better than a more traditional presentation.

The Coachella videos amounted to just putting a camera at the front of the stage. It didn’t bring me any closer to the performers than a standard livestream would. In fact, it made me even more aware that I was watching from hundreds of miles away on a computer screen. For starters, the video only utilized half of the field of view — I spun around to see the thousands of people having way more fun than me once, but there was no reason to do it again. Though it was shot in 360 degrees, only 180 of them felt worth watching.

It takes more than just a 360-degree camera to make a compelling video.

The stationary camera also felt limiting: It was like someone stuck me to the front of the stage and said I could only turn my head but not move around. I’d have rather watched a professionally shot and edited live video. While cuts and close-ups don’t give you the viewpoint of someone in the stands, they actually help make up for the fact that you’re watching remotely by showing you detail you wouldn’t get in the audience. Even though the viewpoint was the best seat in the house, it didn’t feel more immersive than standard video.

Dawn’s performance was a bit different. She also performed her songs live but did so on a set specifically designed for 360-degree video. The camera was basically placed dead-center in the room, floating a bit higher than the performers; a stage extended out in four directions from there. Theoretically, this meant that there was always something to experience no matter which way you looked.

In practice, however, the 15-minute performance didn’t make me feel like I was actually there, and the novelty of 360-degree video again failed to make up for the format’s flaws. The performance was perhaps best described as a live music video, with dancers strutting up and down the stage and a variety of lighting effects giving the whole thing some much-needed mood. But there were plenty of ways you could point the camera and come up with nothing interesting to watch, and being able to look around the entire set was distracting and took some of the magic away, for lack of a better word. It was kind of like seeing a behind-the-scenes clip on a movie shoot where all the truth of a set, warts and all, is revealed. That’s fun when you’re explicitly interested in seeing how a video is made, but it kept Dawn’s performance from feeling like a polished presentation. It was an impressive technical feat but not any sort of groundbreaking piece of art.

To be clear, it isn’t necessarily fair to expect something groundbreaking with the first demonstration of a new technology. But it is a reminder that simply experimenting with something new isn’t enough. You need to make compelling content. Otherwise, why bother? The Coachella videos and Dawn’s performance both felt like Oculus Rift’s early demos, where we saw plenty of incomplete games you wouldn’t want to play. While it’s possible these videos would be more engaging when watched in a VR headset (I watched on my laptop), the vast majority of people checking them out will do so on their computer or smartphone. Still, early adopters with VR headsets are just the type of consumer who might find these new videos compelling.

The biggest thing I felt was missing from these demos was a sense of direction. Viewers have the option of looking anywhere they want at any time, and that freedom is compelling. But it would be helpful to have some hint or clue about where the viewer “should” look to get more out of the experience. Without that, watching these videos felt like distantly observing a series of random, unconnected events.

Creators like Dawn will need to continue experimenting to find the best ways to use 360-degree video.

Strangely enough, I kept coming back to Google’s Spotlight Stories as a great example of well-executed 360-degree video that takes full advantage of its unique format. Spotlight Stories originally launched on the Moto X in 2013 and are basically short cartoons you watch on your smartphone. You can move your phone up, down, left and right to explore the artist’s world with full freedom. But there are a plot and characters to follow, and the design and direction of these cartoons use the freedom of the 360-degree space to their advantage. Viewers are free to look anywhere they want at any time, but the design of the cartoon always manages to get your attention and show you where to look so you can follow the story.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting that YouTube’s new platform will be a failure if it isn’t used to tell narrative stories. That’s only one way to use video, and the ability to drop a 360-degree camera anywhere you want and broadcast live to the world is an incredibly powerful tool. The proliferation of Snapchat, Periscope and Facebook Live Video over the past year or so shows there’s a big desire for simple, immediate broadcasts. YouTube’s latest might never be used for narrative storytelling, and that’s OK — but creators still need to figure out what it’s best suited for and put it to good use, something that didn’t happen in these first few trials.

Both Coachella and Dawn deserve kudos for being pioneers. But it’s going to take some time to figure out how this new tool can be used to make more engaging video. We have the technology. Now it’s up to the creative community to figure out how to best use it. It’s not enough to dance around a 360-degree camera and call it a day.

On the Brink of Greatness short: Standup

Last week, aspiring startups found out just how harsh kids can be when it comes to offering criticism. To see if his jokes were funny enough, a standup comedian put his skills to the test in front of a panel of school children. What’s the worst that could happen? A cat-tastrophe, that’s what.

Google grabs ex-Motorola president to unify its hardware groups

Rick Osterloh, former president of Motorola, is now Senior Vice President at Google in charge of a new hardware division that includes the company’s Nexus devices, living room gadgets and Glass, Re/code reports. This means Nest CEO Tony Fadell is no longer leading Google’s Glass initiatives, a role he took on in January 2015, though he’ll stay on as a team adviser.

Osterloh is no stranger to Google — he led product development during Motorola’s tenure under Google and helped develop the Moto X, Moto 360 and early Droid efforts.

Osterloh’s appointment marks a shift in Google’s approach to hardware, Re/code reports. The new hardware division is broad, covering Nexus phones, OnHub, Glass, Chromecast, consumer products like the Chromebook and Pixel C, and the experimental lab making the Project Ara modular phone, ATAP. Many of these efforts were spread across other Alphabet divisions, but now they all report to Osterloh.

We’ll see if he can make Google’s products, like Glass, work for the real world.

Source: Re/code

Facebook: 60 percent of government requests come with gag order

In a biannual transparency report, Facebook has revealed that 60 percent of the data requests it gets from world governments includes a gag order. That means they include non-disclosure directives that prevent the company from telling the user about the request. This is the first time that Facebook has ever revealed this statistic, thanks to recent law changes in the US that allow them to do so.

As for removing that gag order, the courts are still in battle over that, with Microsoft being one of the key players. The latter has said that such a gag order not only violates the First Amendment but also the Fourth, which is the right to be notified when the government searches or seizes your property.

Facebook also noted in its report that data requests have gone up 13 percent in the second half of 2015, and that the number of posts that have been censored due to local laws have also increased. Part of the reason for the latter is almost entirely due to a photo related to the Paris attacks. The image is said to have violated French laws protecting human dignity, and therefore access to it was restricted, but only in France due to a request from the French government.

“We support the Email Privacy Act, which passed the US House of Representatives yesterday, because it would codify the warrant-for-content requirement and update an old law on government access to internet communications,” said Facebook in a statement.

It also reaffirmed that it does not provide any government with “back doors” or direct access to people’s data, and that every request is scrutinized to see if it’s necessary or warranted. “We’ll also keep working with partners in industry and civil society to push governments around the world to reform surveillance in a way that protects their citizens’ safety and security while respecting their rights and freedoms.”

Source: Facebook