Dealing with nausea when using Google Daydream
Dealing with nausea is a pain, but you can take precautions to avoid it.
For some people, enjoying time in VR can cause dizziness or nausea. While this doesn’t happen to everyone, or even happen every time you jump into VR, it’s still no fun. Google Daydream can cause you to feel sick, just like any other VR headset. That’s why we’ve put together a few tips to help avoid this problem.
Read more at VR Heads!
Google Home: Top 10 Tips & Tricks
Get the most from your Google Home by starting with these tips and tricks.
Using Google Home is fun. That’s not unique to just Google Home — telling any computer no matter what size or shape to do stuff by talking to it is just fun. And the more you talk to your Google Home the more things you’ll find out about what it does and what is doesn’t do.
Since a lot of us picked up a Google home during the holiday Black Friday sales and they are starting to arrive, here are ten things you need to do to get the most out of it.
1. Set up IFTTT
Home automation and the world of tomorrow will be really cool when everything finally works with everything else, but in the meantime, there’s IFTTT.
The IFTTT service takes the things you say to your Google Home and sends commands to the other smart things you have even if the two don’t talk the same language out of the box. Setting things up is easier than you think, and the list of smart devices supported by IFTTT is huge.
When I wake up in the morning, saying hello to Google Home has my Hue lamps (Hue applet) glowing a nice soft yellow, music playing through my stereo (Harmony applet) and a pot of coffee brewed, hot and ready (WeMo applet) when I step out of the shower. All because of IFTTT and Google Home. Your smart stuff can be just as cool if you set it up.
2. Find the settings
The settings for your Google Home are kind of hidden in the Google Home app. To find them, open the hamburger menu (the three lines in the upper left corner) and look for Devices in the list. You’ll see your Google Home there. Open it’s menu by tapping the three dots in the upper left corner and choose settings.
Everything you need to get the most from your Google Home is in there!
3. Set up Guest Mode
Your Google Home is a Chromecast Audio target, too. You can tell it to play a song and it will play through its own speaker if you didn’t tell it to play the music on another cast ready device.
Setting up guest mode lets anyone connect to your Google Home once they enter a four-digit PIN provided by the app. Do it while you’re poking around in the settings
4. Give it a new name
In the settings, you’ll see an entry for Name. It’s exactly what you think it is and you can rename your Google Home any time you like.
You can have fun with it, but if you have more than one it’s pretty handy for the name to describe where it sits like “Living Room” but you can name it whatever you like. Remember that anyone you give guest mode access to can see the name — even your mom.
5. Set up your preferences
We’re still in the settings here, and we’re looking at what’s in the More listing.
Here’s where you tell Google Home things like which music service to use when you want to play a song or two and which news sources to use when you want to know what goes on in the outside world. It’s also where you set your address and tell Home what to call you.
Look through them all to make sure Home does things the way you want it to.
6. Check your activity
One last thing in the More settings — scroll to the bottom and tap the My activity entry.
A web page will open with everything Google Home (and Assistant on your phone if you have a Pixel) has recorded, sorted by date and time. You can go through the list and play back exactly what Home heard, get the details about the recording or delete them.
As mentioned at the top of the page, only you have access to these records. But remember, Google “heard” what you said when Home tried to interpret it even if they can’t see the handy list.
7. Give your Chromecasts an easy name
You change the name of a Google Chromecast-ready device the same way you changed the name of Google Home. Now that you’re talking to send movies or music to them, make sure you give them a name that’s easy to remember and recognize.
Like Google Home itself, anyone with guest mode access will see this name so keep that in mind.
8. Play a movie
Settings can be boring so let’s close them.
Tell Google to play a movie from your chosen source or a video from YouTube on your cast ready TV, or tell it to play a song, playlist or genre from your music source on a cast ready device.
You can adjust the volume with your voice (say volume up or set volume to 50%) and tell it to stop playing when you’re ready to turn things off.
If you don’t have another Google cast device, you can always play music on your Google Home itself. They have a half decent speaker inside and they get plenty loud.
9. Mute the mic
Sometimes you might not want Google Home to be listening. It doesn’t care that you sing along to 80s music or about those sexy time sounds you make, but you might not want it to even be an option.
There’s a button on the back of Google Home — it’s the only button and it has a microphone on it — that toggles the mic. Press it and Home will tell you Microphone off and present four amber lights up top. Press it again and it tells you Microphone on and goes back to always listening mode.
10. Get your agenda
Google Home makes a pretty good assistant, too.
Ask Google to Tell me about my day and it digs through your data and uses the internet (and your settings) to tell you the time after a friendly greeting, give you your appointments for the day, tell you about any traffic issues if it thinks you might be driving to one of them, the weather and reads news from the sources you defined in step 5 above.
There’s plenty more things you can have Google Home do and say. Be sure to talk about what you’re doing with it in the comments!
Google Home
- Google Home review
- These services work with Google Home
- Google Home vs. Amazon Echo
- Join our Google Home forums!
Google Store Best Buy Target
How the Google Pixel’s unlimited photo and video backup works
Unlimited photo and video backup is one of the Pixel’s marquee features.
Google Photos offers unlimited photo backups for everyone as long as the photos are under 16MP and you’re willing to save the files at “High Quality.” But with the Pixel and Pixel XL, you can store unlimited photos and videos (in 4K!) at full resolution and not have it counted against your quota. Here’s how photo backups work on the Pixel.
Which photos get unlimited storage?
Any photo or video uploaded from your Pixel won’t use up any storage space. Before switching to the Pixel, I used up 17.15GB on Google Photos. In the month since, Google Photos backed up over a thousand photos taken from the Pixel’s camera, as well as a few hundred from my Sony RX100 Mark IV — amounting to over 5GB — and my storage quota is unchanged.
Technically, the feature is valid only for photos and videos that are taken using the Pixel, but for now, it looks like all photos uploaded from the Pixel are eligible for free storage at original quality.
You can easily see if your photos take up storage. Head to the Google Drive desktop website, browse to Google Photos -> Select a photo or video -> Click the “i” icon -> Details -> Storage used, and all media uploaded from the Pixel should show as 0 bytes.
What if I switch to another phone?
All photos and videos backed up from the Pixel will continue to stay at original quality, and won’t count against your storage quota. So even if you switch to another phone a year or two down the line, the photos uploaded from your Pixel won’t be altered, nor will you have to upgrade your storage plan to access them.
For instance, if you’re on the free 15GB storage plan and have uploaded over 100GB of photos and videos from your Pixel, you’ll still have access to those files after you move to another device. That 100GB worth of media uploaded from the Pixel won’t be counted against your storage.
What if I buy a Pixel used?
You’ll still be eligible for unlimited photos and videos even if you buy your Pixel used. The feature is tied to the phone and not a specific Google account, so as long as you’re uploading your photos from the Pixel, you’ll be able to store images at original quality without taking up any space.
With unlimited photo backups, the 32GB variant of the Pixel isn’t a bad idea if you’re not fussed about storing your media locally. But if you’re running out of space on your phone, you can easily free up storage.
Google Pixel + Pixel XL
- Google Pixel and Pixel XL review
- Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective
- Google Pixel FAQ: Should you upgrade?
- Pixel + Pixel XL specs
- Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
- Join the discussion in the forums!
Google Store
Verizon
Google is slowly restocking the Pixel, so get it before it sells out again
Finally. Seriously, Google.
What’s better than a new smartphone under the tree? A really blue Pixel XL. The phone is back in stock at the Google Store after missing for a few weeks. It’s available in all three color variants, along with the 5-inch Google Pixel.
If you’ve been thinking of playing Santa with the gift of a Pixel or Pixel XL, there are plenty of reasons why. The Google Pixel is equipped with one of the best 12-megapixel camera sensors and it comes with unlimited backup to Google Photos. It’s also one of the few Daydream-ready phones available, not to mention it runs the latest version of Android.
Don’t forget that you can also purchase device protection, in case the person you’re gifting the phone to is a bit of a klutz.
Google Pixel + Pixel XL
- Google Pixel and Pixel XL review
- Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective
- Google Pixel FAQ: Should you upgrade?
- Pixel + Pixel XL specs
- Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
- Join the discussion in the forums!
Google Store
Verizon
DieselOn Time preview: Solid, stylish, smart
Fossil’s latest fashion smartwatch collaborations come in the form of Diesel, Kate Spade and Emporio Armani, joining the existing partnerships with Michael Kors and Danish brand Skagen.
Like the Skagen Connected previewed at IFA 2016, the DieselOn Time models opt for the hybrid path, offering a traditional-looking watch first and foremost with technology following closely behind.
They might not be as feature-rich as those running Android Wear, but Fossil claims the DieselOn Time smartwatches “inconspicuously give the finger to other connected products”.
- Kate Spade Hybrid Smartwatch preview
- Michael Kors Access review
DieselOn Time preview: Design
The DieselOn Time smartwatches are solid in their build and like the Michael Kors and Kate Spade models, they stay true to the brand they represent. The collection comprises five models, all of which have a 47 x 58mm stainless steel case, coupled with a chunky leather strap.
Pocket-lint
There are several colour options, varying from a gold case with a black strap to a gunmetal casing with a light brown or dark brown strap. Each model has large 24mm lugs, along with three function buttons on the right of the casing. The middle button is similar to a crown, while the buttons either side are a little larger, making for design features rather than just functional buttons.
The DieselOn Time watch faces vary slightly depending on the model, but each of them represents Diesel’s style. The numbers 12, 9 and 6 are prominent, along with the Diesel logo in the middle at the top of the face, while the other numbers are more subtle. Each face also features the five-minute increments around the outer edge, along with a smaller sub-dial in place of three o’clock.
Pocket-lint
The DieselOn Time smartwatches are water resistant up to 5ATM and like the Kate Spade Hybrid Smartwatch, they offer a stainless steel underside over plastic, with a small groove for changing the six-month coin cell battery.
DieselOn Time preview: Features
The DieselOn Time smartwatches are all compatible with Android and iOS devices, connecting to the dedicated DieselOn app via Bluetooth 4.1. Using the app, you’ll be able to manage smartphone notifications and set your preferences for the functional side buttons.
Aside from just telling the time, the DieselOn Time smartwatches will track steps, vibrate when you receive an incoming call, text or other smartphone notification, depending on the preferences you set, as well as allow you to control music or your smartphone camera remotely.
Pocket-lint
Like the Kate Spade and Emporio Armani smartwatches, the DieselOn Time models will also update time zones automatically wherever you go and allow you to pre-set a time zone.
First Impressions
The DieselOn Time hybrid smartwatches are solid and chunky in their build, true to the Diesel brand in their design and smart but subtle in their functionality.
They won’t be to everyone’s taste, but then what watch is? The great thing about hybrid smartwatches is their ability to marry fashion and function seamlessly, enabling those who want to try out a smartwatch to dip their toe in the water, rather than dive all the way in.
In terms of build quality, the DieselOn Time models are great and the design is striking too. How the technology performs in the real world remains to be seen for now but we will be sure to bring you are full review once we get a model in.
‘Yooka-Laylee’ won’t come to the Wii U
Playtonic has announced today that its debut game Yooka-Laylee will no longer be coming to Wii U. Citing “technical difficulties” the studio says it will now release the anticipated platformer on the Nintendo Switch. Playtonic also announced a release date for the other platforms, with the game launching on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on April 11th 2017.
With Nintendo’s new system just around the corner, it comes as little surprise that Playtonic has shifted its focus away from the aging Wii U. Stardew Valley developer Chucklefish Games recently made a similar decision, moving the expected Wii U version to the Switch.
As Yooka-Laylee started life as a Kickstarter project, however, many fans have already put down the cash for the Wii U version. In a bid to appease them, Playtonic has offered these backers the chance to exchange it for its PC, PS4 or Xbox One counterpart on April 11th. Alternatively, those who pledged for a Wii U copy can choose to “upgrade” it to its Switch version, suggesting that backers may have to pay an additional fee to do so.
With Yooka-Laylee developed by a team made up of Rare alumni (a studio which made its name on Nintendo platforms) the news will surely come as a disappointment to many backers. More will be revealed about Playtonic’s plans for the game’s Switch release early next year.
Non-backers can now pre-order the game for $39.99 (£34.99) considerably more than the $24 (£15) Kickstarter backers originally paid. Let’s hope we hear more details about Yooka-Laylee on the platform during Nintendo’s January 12th Switch presentation.
Source: Playtonic Games
Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe steps down, will lead PC VR group
Brendan Iribe has been the CEO of Oculus VR since its inception in 2012, working with founder Palmer Luckey to essentially bring virtual reality into the mainstream. In a blog post today, though, Iribe announced a pretty major change in his role: he’s vacating the CEO seat and moving within the company to lead its PC VR group. “As we’ve grown, I really missed the deep, day-to-day involvement in building a brand new product on the leading edge of technology,” he writes.
Iribe says that he and Jon Thomason, who recently joined the company to lead the mobile VR side of things, will work with Oculus parent company Facebook’s CTO Mike Schroepfer to find a new leader for the team (although not necessarily someone to take the CEO role, now that the company is part of Facebook). Absent from this news and the search for a new person to run Oculus is founder Palmer Luckey, who has basically gone dark since being tied to a hateful anti-Hillary Clinton group in the midst of the presidential election campaign.
While Iribe wasn’t as publicly visible as Luckey, he was probably the second most prominent member of the company. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him presenting future Oculus Rift technology at events in the future — particularly since Luckey is keeping such a low profile.
Source: Oculus VR
Logitech’s Circle camera can better distinguish people from pets
The ability to determine the difference between an actual person and a pet or other wildlife can be an issue for some connected security cameras. With an update to its Circle camera, Logitech improves the device’s ability to do just that. The company says the camera employs “proprietary artificial intelligence” to identify when someone is approaching. Of course, this should cut down on any unwanted alerts when your cat saunters by.
The update also tacks on a Motion Zones feature that can be configured to keep tabs on certain parts of your home and send you alerts when movement is detected. With the companion web app for the camera, you can select up to five zones for things like the front door, windows, garage door and more. Logitech also offers daily updates that allow you to edit recordings and compile footage from the past day, week or month as needed. Speaking of video, you’re able to store up to 31 days worth in case you need it later.
New features are available now to Circle Safe Premium subscribers via a software update. To grab the latest tools, access your Logitech Circle account on the web and get the latest version of the mobile app directly on your device. If you’re not paying for the $10 monthly or $100 annual plan, Circle Safe Basic still offers 14 days worth of video storage and customized alerts, but you’ll miss out on some of the other handy home security features.
Source: Logitech (Business Wire)
There’s Shazam in my Snapchat
Abracadabra! And just like that, there’s Shazam in your Snapchat.
Snapchat users can now instantly figure out which songs are rudely interrupting their impromptu lunchtime video shoots without even leaving the selfie-taking app. Just hold down on the Snapchat camera screen while a song is playing nearby and Shazam will get to work, providing information about the artist, title, video and related songs. It’s then possible to send the song as a Snap to a friend.
Or, you can send the song to a group of friends. Snapchat today rolled out Groups, a feature that allows users to chat with up to 16 of their friends at once. Of course, conversations disappear after 24 hours and you’re only able to view (or listen to, apparently) individual group messages once.
Source: Shazam
Apple is dropping its battery life estimate on Macs
You probably don’t trust your laptop’s battery life estimates, and that’s especially true if you happen to own the latest MacBook Pro. It’s supposed to last for up to 10 hours, but the estimated time can vary wildly depending on what’s running at any given moment. Apple has a very simple solution to that: get rid of the estimate entirely. The company has released macOS Sierra 10.12.2, which ditches the “time remaining” display from the menu bar. That’s not so hot if you depend on that figure to determine when you’ll need to recharge, but our TechCrunch colleagues understand that this might be necessary given evolving technology.
Reportedly, Apple has double-checked battery life on real-world MacBook Pros and believes that the battery is behaving properly. The problem stems from a combination of both modern Intel processors with the very nature of battery life estimates. An operating system can only calculate battery life based on what’s happening at any given moment, which is a problem when the Skylake-based chips in the new MacBook Pros have rapidly changing power states. You may be getting solid battery life in practice, but you won’t see that in the estimate if the processor is running at full tilt when you’re checking the menu bar.
There are other changes and fixes coming with this update. It tackles a serious graphics bug with newer MacBook Pros that triggered “visual artifacts,” to start with. Also, it’s clearer about what happens when you use iCloud storage syncing (which backs up your desktop and Documents folders) or Optimize Storage (removing files when backed up to iCloud) so that you’re not alarmed when files seemingly disappear. You should also see improved Bluetooth audio when using FaceTime or Siri, a better Auto Unlock experience and support for new installs of Windows 7 and 8 using Boot Camp. In short: even if you’re on a desktop Mac and don’t care about battery life, there are quite a few reasons to update.
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Apple
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