Looking for love? Try the new OK Cupid this Valentine’s Day

Why it matters to you

OK Cupid says its new DoubleTake feature has already tripled mutual matches, because apparently, people aren’t so shallow after all.

On this, the day where we are most likely to embrace Cupid and his well-intentioned arrows, he’s getting a makeover. We’re talking, of course, about dating app OK Cupid, the popular dating app who on Valentine’s Day is introducing a revamp of its mobile app. While it won’t be totally ready until March, the team just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to show off its progress on February 14, and really, who are we to blame them?

With the new and improved version of OK Cupid, the app is getting a brand new look with updated typography and illustrations, and from a less superficial standpoint, OK Cupid is also changing up its feature set to set itself apart from competitors like Tinder.

Replacing OK Cupid’s Quickmatch section is a new feature known as DoubleTake. With this new layout, OK Cupid hopes to move away from the knee-jerk, superficial judgment calls that generally dictate matching on dating apps. Instead of offering a single picture that asks you to make an immediate “hot or not” call, DoubleTake gives you not only multiple images, but also profile highlights.

More: A Valentine’s Day gift from Hinge: Book tells stories of digital dating gone right

“We know that each person is much more than just a photo, and our new features are dedicated to highlighting their uniqueness and individuality,” OK Cupid’s CEO Elie Seidman explained in a press release.

DoubleTake is also the new home screen in the updated OK Cupid app, which means that anytime you’re presented with a potential match, you’ll also see his or her age, location, percentage match, height, whether there are pets or kids involved, and personality traits like “friendly,” “energetic,” “organized,” and more.

Apparently, OK Cupid has been testing Double Take for a while now, and has already seen beneficial effects, with a tripling of mutual matches. “With DoubleTake, we show many more facets of a person – we’re showing what makes people tick so that you’ll have better dates and better relationships,” Seidman said. “Every person has a story and instead of helping users speed up, DoubleTake slows them down within the swiping interface so that they can appreciate each other’s uniqueness,” Seidman added.

You can download the new and improved OK Cupid app today on iOS and Android, and expect a full makeover to hit your screen in March.

Download for iOS Download for Android

Amazon launches a Skype competitor in the form of Amazon Chime

Why it matters to you

Most meetings today happen remotely and Amazon Chime wants to make those sorts of meetings a bit more seamless.

Amazon just keeps finding ways to help your small business grow. The latest offering to emerge from the online retail giant is Amazon Chime, a new project from Amazon Web Services. It’s described as “a new unified communications service that makes meetings easier and more efficient than ever before,” and it looks an awful lot like a direct competitor with Skype. Amazon Chime will let users engage in video and audio meetings with just one click and allows for a synchronized experience across desktops, iOS, and Android devices.

Promising to take the frustration out of meetings, especially those that seem to be happening across different states or different countries with increasing frequency, Amazon Chime hopes to provide a more seamless solution to teleconferencing. Without a dial-in or PIN needed, Amazon Chime instead alerts all call participants when a meeting has begun, so all you need to do is click one button to be placed into the conference.

More: Yet another chatbot may be on its way to Google’s Allo

Amazon Chime also shows everyone exactly who they are talking to with a visual roster of participants within the meeting and any attendee has the option of muting their line no matter what sort of device they’re on, or where they are.

“It’s pretty hard to find people who actually like the technology they use for meetings today. Most meeting applications or services are hard to use, deliver bad audio and video, require constant switching between multiple tools to do everything they want, and are way too expensive,”  Gene Farrell, vice president of Enterprise Applications said in a statement. “Amazon Chime delivers frustration-free meetings, allowing users to be productive from anywhere. And with no ongoing maintenance or management fees, Amazon Chime is a great choice for companies that are looking for a solution to meetings that their employees will love to use.”

Amazon launches a Skype competitor in the form of Amazon Chime

Why it matters to you

Most meetings today happen remotely and Amazon Chime wants to make those sorts of meetings a bit more seamless.

Amazon just keeps finding ways to help your small business grow. The latest offering to emerge from the online retail giant is Amazon Chime, a new project from Amazon Web Services. It’s described as “a new unified communications service that makes meetings easier and more efficient than ever before,” and it looks an awful lot like a direct competitor with Skype. Amazon Chime will let users engage in video and audio meetings with just one click and allows for a synchronized experience across desktops, iOS, and Android devices.

Promising to take the frustration out of meetings, especially those that seem to be happening across different states or different countries with increasing frequency, Amazon Chime hopes to provide a more seamless solution to teleconferencing. Without a dial-in or PIN needed, Amazon Chime instead alerts all call participants when a meeting has begun, so all you need to do is click one button to be placed into the conference.

More: Yet another chatbot may be on its way to Google’s Allo

Amazon Chime also shows everyone exactly who they are talking to with a visual roster of participants within the meeting and any attendee has the option of muting their line no matter what sort of device they’re on, or where they are.

“It’s pretty hard to find people who actually like the technology they use for meetings today. Most meeting applications or services are hard to use, deliver bad audio and video, require constant switching between multiple tools to do everything they want, and are way too expensive,”  Gene Farrell, vice president of Enterprise Applications said in a statement. “Amazon Chime delivers frustration-free meetings, allowing users to be productive from anywhere. And with no ongoing maintenance or management fees, Amazon Chime is a great choice for companies that are looking for a solution to meetings that their employees will love to use.”

Google fooled by fake Amazon site that showed up as an ad in search results

Why it matters to you

This scam demonstrates that even the most trustworthy sites can sometimes unintentionally direct users toward questionable content, due to the efforts of malicious entities.

Google has been hoodwinked by fake Amazon ads that were injected into users’ search results. These ads were served up last Wednesday to anyone performing a Google search for the word “amazon,” even appearing ahead of the legitimate link to the online store.

Users who clicked on the phony Amazon link were taken to a fake computer support scam, according to a report from ZDNet. The end goal was apparently to get people to call a phone number, at which point there would presumably have been an attempt to acquire sensitive data such as password credentials or bank account information.

The exact strategy differed depending on which operating system the computer in question had installed. The site was able to determine if the target was using Windows or MacOS, and presented a different site in each case — of course, this was simply set dressing designed to fool the user.

More: Run by robots: Amazon’s high-tech supermarket may only need three employees

If there was any attempt to close the browser window, a pop-up would appear, adding random characters to the end of the web address. This apparently caused certain users’ browsers, or even their computers, to freeze.

All in all, the latter stages of this scam weren’t particularly sophisticated. However, it’s notable that the culprits were able to get their fake ads past Google’s safeguards — especially since they were posing as a retailer as well-known as Amazon.

Last month, Google released its “bad ads” report for 2016, detailing its efforts to crack down on misleading and malicious content. It’s clear that the company is trying to prevent ads like this one from being served to users, but it seems that there are still some holes in its defenses.

As with many cases of online security being breached, the best advice for users is to be vigilant. There’s a chance that even ads served up by Google might be malicious, so it’s best to be wary of which links you follow whenever you’re browsing the web.

You can now download a Pebble watch face just like the one from ‘Resident Evil 7’

Why it matters to you

Just weeks after the game launched, a fan project has transformed a virtual item from Resident Evil 7 into something you can actually wear on your wrist.

Capcom’s Resident Evil 7 is a gripping, horrifying experience, and it’s fair to assume that most people who play the game are so involved in it that they likely aren’t looking for tips on how to accessorize. But if you did find yourself coveting protagonist Ethan’s Codex smartwatch, there’s good news — you can now download a replica of its watch face for your Pebble.

At some point during the development of Resident Evil 7, Capcom inked a deal with Pebble to feature the company’s Pebble Time 2 smartwatch on the wrist of its protagonist. However, before this advertising effort could get off the ground, Pebble was acquired by its competitor, Fitbit.

The Pebble Time 2 was never released, save for the virtual version that Ethan wears in Resident Evil 7. However, a smartwatch developer saw the watch face in-game and decided to get to work on a version that could be installed on pre-existing devices like the Pebble Classic, Pebble Time, or Pebble 2.

“I was sad to hear the company go. but I got excited when I saw the Pebble Time 2 featured in RE7,” Reddit user Elijah Kang wrote in a post to a subreddit dedicated to the horror franchise. “No one made a decent watch face based off the game, so I decided to make one myself.”

More: Resident Evil 7 wears its horror influences on its torn, bloody sleeves

The line graph on the watch face is apparently generated from the user’s weekly steps, hourly steps, or a series of randomized values. On devices with a color screen, the readout will change from red to green to yellow depending on the watch’s remaining battery life. Bar graphs are included at the bottom of the screen to mimic the in-game watch, but they don’t reflect any real data.

Anyone who’s eager to introduce a little slice of Resident Evil 7 into their everyday life can download the free watch face right now from the Pebble app store.

Some Pixel and Nexus owners can begin using Android Instant Apps now

Why it matters to you

Android Instant Apps will help you save time and headaches installing and uninstalling apps you only want to try, or know you’ll only use once.

Late last month, Google announced it was beginning a limited test for its new Android Instant Apps initiative, a platform that allows users to run software without installing it to their device. Now, the functionality has reportedly reached some Pixel and recent Nexus phones, according to 9to5Google and Reddit.

In typical Google fashion, not all supported devices running the most current versions of 7.0 Nougat are receiving Instant Apps immediately — the company appears to be rolling out the feature slowly, without notifying users. You can check if your phone is ready to start running Instant Apps by visiting the Google > Services submenu inside Settings. Eligible devices will have a toggle for Instant Apps, where the user can opt in.

More: Google’s Instant Apps allows you to use apps without installing them

If you’re one of the chosen few, the method for finding Instant Apps is still a bit counter-intuitive in these early stages. Users have to search for them in Chrome, and currently there are only four known examples: Buzzfeed, Viki, Periscope, and Wish. With any luck, a search result near the top labeled “Instant” should appear, and you can follow that link to run the app.

At this point, not all of the apps are working in all cases, and 9to5Google says it is unclear which devices and versions of Android will receive the feature first. Google has stated it is targeting 4.1 Jelly Bean forward for the full release.

Google is pitching Instant Apps as a solution to the problem of having to install an app you’ll only use once, or just want to test-drive. Think of them as smaller, stripped-down versions of existing apps that disappear from the device the moment they are closed.

When Google announced the initiative in May of last year, it said that about “half a dozen” partners had agreed to embrace the format, including B&H Photo Video, Medium, Hotel Tonight, Zumper, Disney, and the aforementioned Buzzfeed. Instant Apps seem particularly beneficial for uncommon services, like hotel hunting, or impromptu shopping needs, so look forward to similar apps joining the list later on.

Close to the Metal Ep. 30: For Honor, Windows Game Mode, and the sharp rise in PC Gaming demands

This week, on our computing podcast Close to the Metal, we’ll take a look at For Honor, the multiplayer battle game, and see what’s slowing it down, and how you can keep from getting booted when your frame rate drops too low. We’ll also touch on the upcoming Windows 10 Game Mode to see if it can deliver on its promise of higher frame rates without any extra hardware.

As modern video games quickly approach the point of photorealism, the demands they place on gaming computers are heavier than ever. Games like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and more recently For Honor look stunning, but our mid-range review hardware has struggled to produce anything near playable frame rates.

But nowadays, it isn’t just oversized textures and complex models that cause GPUs to collapse under the weight of this enormous task. Advanced graphical elements like reflective surfaces, complex lighting and shadows, and strange edges are some of the worst offenders. Newer games will even let you crank up the resolution and then scale it back, in order to provide even higher-quality forms of anti-aliasing.

Indeed, PC gaming is typically one of the most stressful operations a personal computer will experience throughout its existence, and often for hours on end. To that end, there are a lot of little tricks that can help you game smoothly, without sacrificing the quality inherent to gaming PCs. Some games do it by offering a wide array of settings that let you tweak to exactly your specifications, or let you drop the rendered resolution without affecting the UI elements.

You can even take things to the operating system level, and prioritize gaming-related applications, while simultaneously cutting performance to non-vital software and add-ons. You can do the legwork yourself, or leverage the new Game Mode in the Windows 10 Creators update to do it automatically.

Google fixes creepy bug that asked you to provide body sensor info to Gmail

Why it matters to you

If you were creeped out by the Android Gmail app’s request for Body Sensor information in order to send an email, you weren’t alone. And now, Google has fixed it.

Who knew you’d need to give Google access to your body to send an email?

Actually, you don’t, but a bizarre bug in some Android users’ Gmail apps demanded that they give the application access to “Body Sensors” in order to send an email. And now, Gmail is issuing a fix for this, because it’s as creepy as it is weird.

According to reports, some Android owners found that after attempting to send a message via the Gmail app, they’d receive a notification that an error had occurred. “This app won’t work properly unless you allow Google Play services’ request to access the following: Body Sensors,” it read. Needless to say, this wasn’t something users were down with. Moreover, it’s been an ongoing issue since at least 2015, though a user more recently posted about the problem in the Gmail Help Forum last September.

More: Yahoo Mail gets a couple updates, including caller ID and photo syncing

So what was going on?  First of all, Google Play Services is an Android app that is central to your device’s functionality, providing authentication and synchronized contacts (among other things) across a range of Google apps. It also helps with the speed of offline searches, and in providing more immersive maps, Mashable notes.

If you have a fitness app installed on your Android device, for example, Google Play Service needs the Body Sensors permission so it can provide information like the number of steps you’ve taken or your heart rate. Of course, Gmail obviously doesn’t need that information.

Fortunately, the company has finally issued a fix. “The permission request was the result of a bug in the Drive API within Google Play services, which has now been fixed,” a representative from Google said in an email on Monday. While you’re waiting on the fix to be fully rolled out, you can head over to your phone’s Settings, then go to Apps, and navigate over to Permissions, where you can turn permissions on and off for individual apps.

Apple readies ‘Planet of the Apps,’ a ‘Shark Tank’-like venture capital series

Why it matters to you

If you’re a fan of shows like Shark Tank, and you’re interested in app development, this new Apple Music series might be for you.

Apple released a trailer for Planet of the Apps, its upcoming series that examines the massive world of apps, developers with ideas for what they hope will be the next big download, and the celebrity entrepreneurs and venture capitalists that could help them achieve their app dreams.

The two-minute trailer, released at the Recode Code Media conference, suggests the series as a sort of Shark Tank for app developers looking to earn venture capital investments to back their ideas and bring them to life. They first pitch their idea to a panel of four “culturally influential entrepreneurs:” Gwyneth Paltrow, Gary Vaynerchuk, Jessica Alba, and will.i.am. Unlike that other show, however, developers have just 60 seconds to get someone on the panel intrigued enough to fork over some dough. Weirdly, they do so while traveling down an escalator.

More: New ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ trailer reveals release date, Beyoncé parody

If they get someone interested, the show moves to the advisory stage, in which they work with the investor and other tech luminaries on building the app. Then, they give their final pitch to venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners, with the celebrity partner on stage with them this time for added support. The successful apps eventually get featured placement in the iOS app store, where millions of iOS device users can download and use them.

While the concept seems to work with shows like Shark Tank, which sees cast investors like Mark Cuban and Daymond John, and guest investors like Ashton Kutcher and Chris Sacca, back ideas for various services and products, will it work on a streaming platform, and strictly within the world of apps?

Maybe it’s just the cheesy name and inclusion of the escalator (really, why?), and the transparent goal of promoting and influencing app store purchases, not to mention celebrity brands, that might stand in the way of the series’ success. But given how many people like shows like Shark Tank (while the ABC series’ fall finale last December saw a significant drop in ratings, it still drew in a healthy 4.9 million viewers) Planet of the Apps may just have an audience.

The concept for Planet of the Apps was pitched to Apple by will.i.am. The series is “coming soon” to Apple Music.

Nvidia’s new GeForce driver is optimized for ‘Halo Wars 2,’ ‘For Honor,’ more

Why it matters to you

This latest driver is not only optimized for three new PC games, but it fixes issues experienced on Windows 10, Windows 8/8.1, and Windows 7.

Nvidia has released a new WHQL driver for its GeForce graphics cards dubbed as GeForce Game Ready 378.66. It’s optimized for Halo Wars 2, For Honor, and Sniper Elite 4, and fixes numerous issues seen across several games including Second Life, The Division, and more.

More: Nvidia’s Shield tablet is now more delicious with the Nougat software update

The new driver also provides Nvidia Ansel support for Epic Games’ free-to-play MOBA game Paragon. This feature enables players to create 2D, 360-degree and virtual reality 360-degree screenshots on GeForce GTX graphics cards. Users can add filters, adjust the field of view, the rotation, and save the images in a sharable format with just a single click.

Here are the fixes Nvidia made for six specific PC games:

Second Life:
After disabling the Advanced Lighting Model option, the world view would be tinted blue.
The Division:
Shadows would begin to flicker after enabling Percentage Closer Soft Shadows (PCSS).
Battlefield 1:
On Kepler-based GPUs, the game would flicker when using Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA).
Battlefield 1 Day 28 Patch:
When SLI is enabled, the menu text would become jittery.
Heroes of the Storm:
The game would crash at launch on GTX 1080 cards.
Minecraft:
Nvinitx.dll was causing Java SE Binary crashes.

Now here is a list of general fixes not tied to a specific PC game:

Surround:
Previously, Surround couldn’t be enabled on the XGPU.
G-Sync:
A long delay was experienced when switching a game from full-screen to windowed when G-Sync and V-Sync were enabled simultaneously.
GeForce GTX 1080:
Launching games in SLI Surround mode using an HDMI 2.0 connection caused the system to crash.
GeForce 860M:
DirectX games would crash on notebooks with this discrete graphics chip.
GeForce GTX 980 Ti:
Previously, the driver couldn’t detect multiple TV models.

Of course, there are still around 13 problems related to Windows 10 that still need to be fixed. There are two outstanding issues on Windows 8/8.1 as well along with three issues with Windows 7. All of this can be read in Nvidia’s release notes in a PDF file here.

Finally, here are the system requirements for the three PC games optimized by the new driver:

For Honor

Minimum
Recommended
Operating system:
Windows 7 / 8.1 / 10 (64-bit)
Windows 7 / 8.1 / 10 (64-bit)
Processor:
Intel Core i3-550
AMD Phenom II X4 955
Intel Core i5-2500K
AMD FX-6350
Graphics card:
GeForce GTX 660
GeForce GTX 750 Ti
GeForce GTX 950
GeForce GTX 1050
GeForce GTX 680
GeForce GTX 760
GeForce GTX 970
GeForce GTX 1060
System memory:
4GB
8GB
Storage:
40GB
40GB

Halo Wars 2

Minimum
Recommended
Operating system:
Windows 10 Anniversary Update (64-bit)
Windows 10 Anniversary Update (64-bit)
Processor:
Intel Core i5-2500
AMD FX-4350
Intel Core i5-4690K
AMD FX-8350
Graphics card:
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
GeForce GTX 1060
System memory:
6GB
8GB
Storage:
25GB
25GB

 Sniper Elite 4

Minimum
Recommended
Operating system:
Windows 7 / 8.1 / 10 (64-bit)
Windows 7 / 8.1 / 10 (64-bit)
Processor:
Intel Core i3-2100
AMD equivalent
Intel Core i7-3770
AMD equivalent
Graphics card:
GeForce GTX 660
GeForce GTX 970
System memory:
4GB
8GB
Storage:
Unknown
Unknown

As always, GeForce card owners can manually download and install the new driver from Nvidia’s website, or grab it through the GeForce Experience desktop client via the “Drivers” tab.