Instagram shopping tags help you buy what you see
Ads in your Instagram feed may be irksome, but wouldn’t it be nice if you could at least find out how much it would cost to buy those sweet shoes or stylish bags? Instagram sure does. It’s starting to roll out shopping tags that identify the products in ads. Tap a button and you’ll see the basic details of products in a photo ad; tap those products and you’ll get both more details as well as links to visit their store pages on the web. You can’t buy goods directly from Instagram right now (possibly a good thing), but you also don’t have to scrounge through a retailer’s website just to find what you saw a moment ago.
The tags are initially viewable only to a subset of iOS viewers in the US. Most of the early ad partners are fashion brands like Kate Spade and Warby Parker. Expansion to Android, video ads and other countries will follow as Instagram figures out how it can display and recommend products. Eventually, you’ll have the option of saving products you like so that you can buy them later.
Despite what you might think, Instagram isn’t taking a cut every time you tap a “shop now” link. Instead, it’s all about convincing advertisers to line up — they may be more likely to pay if they know that they can turn your ad view into a purchase within seconds. Also, the upcoming save feature is a not-so-subtle way of taking on Pinterest. While Pinterest isn’t limited to saving products from ads, you might have less reason to check it out if you can bookmark inspiring products on Instagram.
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Instagram Business
AirPods Might Not Launch Until January 2017
Following the confirmation that Apple has delayed its wireless “AirPods” beyond the original late October launch window, foreign supply chain sources are now pointing towards a launch date in January 2017, and not the late 2016 estimation that many believed would help the Bluetooth device sell during the holidays.
The news comes from Chinese-language Economic Daily News (via DigiTimes), which cites market watchers who believe AirPods manufacturing supplier Inventec will see a profit boost in January because of the new launch date for the device.
Apple originally planned to release the AirPods at the end of October, but has postponed release. Inventec is expected to begin shipping AirPods in January 2017, the paper noted.
Because of AirPods orders, Inventec’s revenue is expected to grow 7 percent in 2017, to reach around $23.83 billion, while its earnings per share are also estimated to increase by 35 percent. Its Q4 2016 earnings will be mainly in its PC supplier business, which will “stay flat” from the third quarter output of around 4.85 million units shipped.
The connection between Inventec and AirPods first came in a report by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in September. Apple then announced the device during its September 7 iPhone 7 event, where it confirmed the headphones have up to 5 hours of music playback and high-quality sound through a “seamless and automatic connection” between devices, as well as a battery case that includes up to 24 hours of charge.
Tag: AirPods
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Classroom-Focused ‘Minecraft: Education Edition’ Launches on macOS and Windows
Mojang today launched “Minecraft: Education Edition” for macOS and Windows platforms, allowing educators and administrators to begin introducing the game to students and use its copious tools and in-game systems to teach lessons in science, technology, engineering, math, history, language, art, and more (via TechCrunch). The game will come with a “Classroom Mode” companion app so teachers can manage settings within the seed created for their classroom, and even interact with the students in their world.
The game has been in a free trial testing period at some school across the country, totaling up to around 35,000 students and teachers who have used it so far. The full game now runs at a rate of $5 per user, with volume pricing available for larger schools. Those eligible to download Minecraft: Education Edition extend beyond normal public schools, and include libraries, museums, and individuals who are part of “nationally recognized home-school organizations.”
The Minecraft: Education Edition website also includes resources for teachers to get started with the game, including pre-made lesson plans, helpful tutorials, and starter worlds that’ll make it easier to acclimate students into the game’s mechanics. For teachers who want to use the game in their classroom but aren’t familiar with Minecraft, there’s a “Minecraft Mentors” program that teaches them all of the basic principles of the game, along with how it can be adapted to education programs.
Like the consumer versions of Minecraft, Education Edition will receive version updates over time to ensure that the software stays up to date, as well as introduce new game features. The first version of the learning-focused edition will include all of the previous updates introduced to Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition beta, according to Microsoft. Educators interested can begin the sign up process on the game’s website.
During last week’s Mac event, Apple announced that Minecraft will be coming to the fourth-generation Apple TV by the end of 2016.
Tag: Minecraft
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Honeywell Lyric T5 review – CNET
The Good The $150 Honeywell Lyric T5’s geofencing feature worked consistently well, it automated my Home and Away settings every time without complaint, and it sent prompt notifications alerting me to the changes.
The Bad While I like the thermostat’s general design, the font and layout of the touchscreen interface looks dated. I would like to see integrations with Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, Wink and IFTTT.
The Bottom Line Honeywell’s Siri-, Alexa-, and geofencing-enabled Lyric T5 is smart, it works well and it offers a better value than other connected thermostats.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
While Nest was busy rolling out next-gen versions of what is essentially the same $250 thermostat, Emerson, Ecobee and now Honeywell were hard at work developing connected models with major smart-home partnerships that cost significantly less money.
Honeywell’s Lyric T5 is the least expensive Wi-Fi thermostat I’ve reviewed to date at $150, a whopping 100 bucks less than Nest. It works with Apple HomeKit and Amazon Alexa and it has geofencing functionality. Bonus: Honeywell says its updated Lyric app offers “improved [geofencing] performance” and I have to agree. The T5’s geofencing feature worked flawlessly for me during testing.
The outdated font on the thermostat’s display may look like something straight out of the 1995 Sandra Bullock thriller “The Net,” but I like everything else about it — especially the price. Definitely consider Honeywell’s Lyric T5 if you’re on the hunt for a more affordable smart thermostat with solid performance.
Honeywell’s lower-priced Lyric T5 still talks…
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Getting started
There are dozens of different home HVAC systems, wiring arrangements and settings. Ask a professional or a DIY-savvy friend if you have any questions about your specific setup. That said, Honeywell’s Lyric T5 is really easy to install if you already have a C-wire configuration. Not sure? Check out Honeywell’s Quick Install Guide for more details.
If you already have a C-wire in place and are lucky enough not to have to drill additional holes in the wall or repaint any newly-exposed areas, you can get this thing up and running in 10-15 minutes. After that, download the Android or iOS Lyric app and either create an account or use existing credentials to log in to your account.
The app takes the pairing process step-by-step. Just pick “Lyric T5” from the “Select a device to install” page in the app and answer the questions that follow to make your way through the configuration. At one point, it will transition to selecting options on the thermostat itself — that’s where you’ll start to get a feel for the touchscreen.
Like I said in the intro, the font and general layout of the thermostat display is a little wonky. I don’t exactly dislike it, but it looks dated. I wasn’t quite sure how it worked right away, either, because a modern touchscreen combined with a screen that looks like it was ripped from the early PC days is an odd juxtaposition. But once you get used to it, it’s responsive and easy to use.
See what I mean?
Chris Monroe/CNET
The nitty-gritty
Siri voice control and geofencing in action.
Screenshots by CNET
If you want, you can stop there and simply use the app to create custom schedules for 7-day programming (you can also create schedules directly on the thermostat), adjusting the temperature on-demand anywhere you have a Wi-Fi or cellular connection.
Best Keyboard for Android
Best overall
Google Keyboard
Free
See on Google Play
Years ago, Google’s built-in Android keyboard was considered a bit of a slouch. Oh, how times have changed. The Google Keyboard is completely free, supports gesture typing for both individual words and entire sentences, a bounty of languages, and a modest choice of themes.
The Google Keyboard employs Google’s own speech-to-text engine for voice dictation, and while it might not be the best at predictive text, it does learn from your typed data across Google’s apps and services. If your phone didn’t ship with the Google Keyboard, you can download it from the Google Play Store.
Bottom-line: Google Keyboard has pretty much every feature you’d want from a touch keyboard. It’s fast, reliable, and minimalist, with theme options to tweak in the settings.
One more thing: Google has included one-handed mode for those who prefer to type with one thumb.
Why Google Keyboard is the best
Leave it to Google to make their stock keyboard the easiest and smoothest experience you can find on Android. Over time, they’ve added features that Android users have enjoyed from other keyboards and kept it all quick, responsive and free.
You have the option of tap-typing or swiping around for words, one-handed or two. It employs Google’s own speech-to-text technology, which will only get better fine-tuned as Google builds out. And it even incorporates GIFs, which can be found alongside the full suite of Android emojis. If you’re phone doesn’t already come with the Google Keyboard pre-installed, do your thumbs a favor and check it out.
Best for predictions
Swiftkey
Free
See on Google Play
For years, SwiftKey soared above Google’s included keyboard, and it did — and still does — come pre-installed on many a phone and tablet. SwiftKey’s prediction methods, called the “fluency engine,” has made it the keyboard that many users and editors alike keep coming back to. SwiftKey has been pre-loaded on millions of devices over the years, including on Samsung’s flagship phones.
While SwiftKey used to be a paid app, the keyboard itself went free in 2014, instead having its users pay for themes. SwiftKey has led the keyboard pack for a while, and was our readers’ top response when we asked which keyboard they used. And it’s still a great option in 2016.
Bottom-line: SwiftKey is a great option for those looking for an alternative to the stock Google keyboard.
One more thing: On the topic of themes, there are over 80 of them to choose from in all sorts of colors and styles to fit your personality.
Best for gesture typing
Swype
$0.99
See on Google Play
Swype is to SwiftKey as GM is to Ford. Both are established, respected, feature-rich keyboards. Swype allows you to swipe out words or whole sentences, and also supports typing in two languages at once, for bilingual users. Swype offers a free trial version, but the full version is only a dollar, and themes are an additional two dollars apiece.
Swype ties into Android’s Accessibility features for TalkBack and Explore By Touch, which make Swype a keyboard vision-impaired users can learn more easily on their own. Copy/Cut/Paste functions are embedded as gestures in Swype’s keyboard, too. Swype all the things!
Bottom-line: Swype originally introduced the world to fluid, swipe-based typing, and is still a quality keyboard for Android.
One more thing: Swype is great for sports fans, offering offers themes, including Major League Soccer themes.
Best overall
Google Keyboard
Free
See on Google Play
Years ago, Google’s built-in Android keyboard was considered a bit of a slouch. My how times have changed. The Google Keyboard is completely free, supports gesture typing for both individual words and entire sentences, a bounty of languages, and a modest choice of themes.
The Google Keyboard employs Google’s own speech-to-text engine for voice dictation, and while it might not be the best at predictive text, it does learn from your typed data across Google’s apps and services. If your phone didn’t ship with the Google Keyboard, you can download it from the Google Play Store.
Bottom-line: Google Keyboard has pretty much every feature you’d want from a touch keyboard. It’s fast, reliable, and minimalist, with theme options to tweak in the settings.
One more thing: Google has included One-Handed Mode for those who prefer to type with one thumb.
New Sonos Android beta brings speaker control to the Spotify app
As promised, Sonos has further opened up its platform to new uses. Back in August, the popular connected speaker company promised tighter integration with Spotify and Alexa, and with a new beta version for Android (and Mac and PC), its products can now be controlled through the Spotify app itself.
For someone like me who uses the Spotify app every day, pointing music at whichever speaker is most convenient — my receiver, Amazon Echo, or now, Sonos — this is a big deal, and will go a long way to helping Sonos better compete with the growing number of companies trying to dethrone it from the connected speaker crown.
More: Everything you need to know about Sonos
Before this feature rolls out to the broader public, it is going through the company’s beta process, which involves a simple toggle in the Android app’s settings.
Sonos users can also expect better integration with Amazon’s Alexa platform early next year, allowing the Play series speakers to seamlessly work as outputs for the Echo Dot.
Wilson X Connected American Football preview: Touching down in the UK 1 January
Sports brand Wilson is bringing its Connected American Football to the UK as of 1 January 2017 and we’ve had a play.
The company announced the smart ball in the US at the start of the current NFL season and it is now ready to expand its roll out to select regions around the world, including some of the European markets that embrace the sport.
We caught up with it at “NFL House” – a pop-up American football experience in the heart of London timed to coincide with the NFL International Series of games in the capital – and were even treated to an impromptu visit by double Superbowl winner Carl Banks. Let’s just say that even though he was a linebacker in his prime, he could still throw a mean ball.
Pocket-lint
Wilson X Connected Football smart chip
The Wilson X Connected Football has a smart chip floating around inside the bladder, which is centrally located. It can track distance, velocity, spiral efficiency, spin rate and can even judge whether the ball has been caught or dropped.
Pocket-lint
It links with an iPhone or Android phone app through Bluetooth, but rather that munch the stats for professional use, like the Adidas miCoach Smart Ball we’ve featured before, it uses the gathered data for fun activities. Basically, anybody can play with the Wilson ball and get something from it. It combines sport with smartphone gaming in delicious fashion.
Wilson X Connected Football game modes
The app has several different modes which track throws in various ways. There is a QB Warm-Up mode, which just shows the basic stats for each throw. Elimination offers the chance to set minimum targets for up to eight players to meet or be expelled from the round. Precision judges all stats over 10 throws. And Game Time and Final Drive ape full and partial NFL games with throws translated into yardage.
By adding distinct game modes, Wilson combines physical activity with fun and healthy competition. They can also be played in small or large open spaces, so equally enjoyable in a garden as the local park.
Pocket-lint
The football isn’t exclusively aimed at older, male players either. As well as a full-size, NFL-standard version, a smaller, junior edition will be sold for children or those with dinkier hands. After all, throwing an American football relies on the grip and the spin achieved so it helps to have a version best suited for your mitts.
Wilson X Connected Football battery life
One of the things we were most frustrated by with the Adidas Smart Ball was its battery life. As it needed to be recharged, we occasionally found that it wasn’t charged when we most wanted to use it. The Wilson American football is different, however. It has a non-removable, non-rechargeable battery inside, which will ensure the ball is ready to go as soon as it is woken through twisting it to a vertical position then back to a horizontal one.
Admittedly, this reduces the shelf life of the product, but Wilson told us that it lasts for more than 200,000 throws or 500 hours of play. Even if you played with it for an hour every single day, it’d still last for around 15 months. And even then you’d still have a good quality football to play with after – the chip itself doesn’t add any weight or affect the ball in any way.
First Impressions
The only slight issue we have with the Wilson ball is its price. At £159.99 it is likely to put off anybody not totally into the sport, thereby reducing its market in the UK.
But considering that it encourages physical activity, it might be worth a punt for those who want their kids to mix fitness with their gaming.
It’s also an excellent social device too, with at least two-players at a time getting something from it.
Wilson told us that this and its similarly connected basketball – which is also coming to the UK next year – are just the start of its smart sports goods plans. And with implementation as good as this, we heartily approve.
Samsung Galaxy S8 could feature a bezel-less OLED screen
The Investor has cited the Korea Herald as saying the Samsung Galaxy S8 could feature a bezel-less OLED display. Park Won-sang, a Samsung display spokesperson was quoted saying: “Samsung Display would roll out a full-screen display whose display area ratio reaches more than 90 percent next year”.
- Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Edge: What’s the story so far?
That quote could be interpreted in a number of ways, either Samsung will aim to get the edge-to-edge OLED screen on the Galaxy S8, or it will produce a prototype phone demonstrating the technology. We’re hoping it’s the former, as Samsung needs to pull out all the stops with its next smartphone to help recover from the exploding Galaxy Note 7 fiasco.
If true, the screen on the Galaxy S8 would have an array of sensors built into it, such as a fingerprint scanner and home button. It’s also been reported that Won-sang revealed a concept image of a Galaxy S7 Edge with such a display.
He also described the benefits of having such a large display for virtual reality, saying a larger screen would provide a more immersive experience when used with a Gear VR or Google Daydream VR headset.
While it wouldn’t be the first case of an edge-to-edge screen we’ve seen, Xiaomi for example recently unveiled the Mi Mix with a screen to body ratio of 91.3%, Samsung could be the first to mass-produce such a device.
Rumours surrounding features and specs of the Samsung Galaxy S8 have been mounting for some time. It’s expected to be unveiled either at MWC 2017, or a day before the show kicks off and the company may only launch one phone this time round, rather than a flat-screen S8 and a curved-screen S8 Edge. There’s still a few months to wait until we see the phone unveiled, but expect there to be plenty more leaks and rumours until then, so watch this space.
Kickstarter Live lets project creators stream directly to backers
Thanks to sites like Kickstarter, creators all over the world have been able to bring their product visions to life via the medium of crowdfunding. Many of the website’s successful projects utilize a formula of a nicely-produced pitch video, a bunch of glossy photos and (normally) a promise that its creator(s) won’t run off into the night with your pledge. A new tool launching today called Kickstarter Live not only attempts to better connect creators with potential backers, but let them demonstrate their passion in a way that only live video possibly can.
The key to Live, Kickstarter says, “is its intimacy.” Viewers are encouraged to ask questions about the project, learn more about the person or people behind it and immediately back it while tuned in. Think of it as a Twitch stream or a Facebook Live broadcast that is specifically tailored for something you’re interested in but still have doubts backing.
“Creators are using Kickstarter Live for musical performances, cooking shows, product demos, game demos, rehearsals, and much more,” says the company on its new video-centric website. “It brings the creative process into the light and inspires new backers to join the fun.”
Because Kickstarter Live integrates directly with project pages, campaign managers can promote their streams via a simple project update. The feature also integrates with Facebook Live (although it’s still in beta), broadening the reach of broadcasts.
Kickstarter appears to put everything in the hands of its project creators but has launched an Explore page that displays a schedule of upcoming streams. Like late-night TV deals, this could be useful for users who don’t know they need something until it’s being advertized right in front of them.
Via: Kickstarter Blog
Source: Kickstarter Live
Amazon Alexa is now a small home robot thanks to Omate
As Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant becomes smarter each day, it’s also showing up in more form factors, with the latest being a small home robot courtesy of, well, a smartwatch brand. Omate’s Yumi is, in many ways, a mini version of the ASUS Zenbo: Its head features a 5-inch 720p touchscreen, it runs on wheels, it’s powered by Android and it even shares a similar appearance in white. Much like Omate’s Rise 3G smartwatch, the Yumi supports Alexa out of the box, so it’s effectively an Echo Dot with wheels plus a cute face — look closer and you’ll see the same smile in Amazon’s logo. When you do get bored of that look, just pick another face.
With a starting price of $349, the 11.7-inch tall Yumi is bound to miss out on some of the bells and whistles found on the $599 Zenbo. For one, Yumi lacks object avoidance and drop avoidance sensors, so you’ll have to be careful when it’s placed on the table or countertop. In fact, it’s not designed to be as mobile as Zenbo; the wheels are primarily for letting Yumi turn to you when you talk to it. Secondly, while it does have a 5-megapixel “ultra pixel” (2um) front-facing camera for video calls and surveillance usage, the fixed neck means you won’t be able to tilt the camera, but it shouldn’t be too much of a problem if your Yumi spends most of its time on an elevated surface.
With the exception of the supposedly “crystal clear” stereo speakers, the 5-mic array and the 37.2Wh battery (battery life yet to be determined), the rest of the robot is essentially the equivalent of a budget smartphone. It has a 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, 1GB of LPDDR3 RAM, 8GB of onboard storage, dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, an HDMI port and a micro-USB port (with OTG support). With most of Alexa’s work done in the cloud, you’ll just have to worry about making sure you have good Internet connection at home.
Yumi will be offered in black and white versions on Indiegogo on November 15th, and it’s estimated to ship in March 2017. For now, you can head over to Omate’s website to sign up for the early bird discount. But if you want a more serious home robot that won’t fall down the stairs, you may want to hang on until ASUS is ready with its Zenbo — hopefully before the holidays.
Source: Omate
AIVAnet 