Need a better LG Watch Style strap? Check these out

A stylish watch deserves a stylish band.

The LG Watch Style may be aimed at those who care a little more about fashion than function, but there are plenty of functional reasons to swap out bands on your new watch. Maybe your perfect fit is between sizes, or maybe you need something a little more sweat proof — or maybe you simply want something that matches your wardrobe better. Swapping bands on the Style is a breeze, but first you need a band to switch to, and that’s where we come in!

MODE Leather Bands

The LG Watch Style is compatible with MODE bands from Google, and if the leather band that came with your Style is a bit too bland, the vibrant colors available from the Google Store might be more to your liking. They’re easy to swap and easy to mix-and-match should you buy more than one color, but at $60 a pair, this might be a bit much for most users. You pay for easy, and MODE bands are very easy.

See at Google Store

Blesihu Milanese Loop Watch Band

Milanese Loop watch bands offer a great fit for almost any wrist size, and their shiny metal mesh is eye-catchingly beautiful. The magnetic clasp is strong enough that it won’t come undone while jogging, exercising, or swimming, but come off quickly and easily when you need to take it off to charge. The matte finish on the clasp and end of the band also matches well with the silver LG Watch Style’s finish. If you have a particularly hairy wrist, be warned that the metal weave here shouldn’t pinch and pull hairs, but it is a possibility.

See on Amazon

Speidel Twist-O-Flex Silver Tone Elegant Link Stainless Steel Watch Band

Remember those stretchy metal bands that your grandmother had on her watch? Those are called Twist-O-Flex bands, and they have waned in popularity over the last few decades, but they’re due for a comeback. Once they’re fitted by your jeweler — and yes, you’re going to want it sized by a jeweler unless you really know what you’re doing — they fit well and they come on and off easier than anything else, and with bands as flashy as this, they can be fashionable as well as functional. This shiny band gains a lot of attention, and its reviews frequently praise the amount of looks it brings to the wearer and the watch attached to it.

See at Amazon

Quick Release Silicone Soft Rubber Strap

Silicone straps are easy to clean, easy to swap, and easy to collect in several colors. These textured bands are available in five colors, with a grippy tread-like texture that keeps your Style securely in place, even while you’re fist-banging along at a concert or running under a hot Texan sun.

While the white and black may be easier to match to your wardrobe, I recommend the bright sea blue for a pop of color or the flamboyant orange if you’re feeling exceptionally bold. Heck, at these prices you could pick up every color for the same price as one of the leather bands.

See at Amazon

BARTON NATO straps

The LG Watch Style’s back is blandly barren, lacking the heart-rate sensor that most Android Wear devices sport. It does, however, have two microphones back there, but since they’re pointing directly into your wrist, it can be kinda hard for them to pick up what you’re saying. This is why NATO bands might actually be the way to go both for ease of customization and better mic performance. There are a lot of NATO bands out there, but Barton’s got a huge selection, reasonable prices, and great color choices, from patriotic to modern to Seattle Sounders colors for Andrew.

You will have to loose the band enough to slip the charging base under the back of the watch, but the bands are easily adjustable, and you might want to take the band off every night anyway to you can pick the one that best matches tomorrow’s ensemble. Or to wash it, as nylon bands can pick up a bit of sweat.

See at Amazon

Android Wear 2.0 SDK finalized and available, developers encouraged publish before tomorrow’s launch

Android Wear 2.0 is official, and developers can get ready now.

Google has the final version of the Android Wear 2.0 SDK ready, and it’s available for download.

Support for new hardware features and stand-alone watch apps is included in the release, and all the existing documentation from the developer preview version of the SDK has been merged into the main Wear Developer site and everything needed to produce and publish applications for the new platform version is up and running. You’ll find the new SDK and all the tools needed in Android Studio’s SDK manager.

The Android Wear app quality review process has also been updated, so if you’re building apps for Android Wear and want an official Wear badge and listing, you should have a look at the documentation and guidelines and check out the changes.

Google is also encouraging developers to publish their apps right away so they can be ready for the official February 10 launch date. We’ve seen early partners like Strava pushing apps for Android Wear 2.0 and hope to see plenty more in the coming days.

For all the details about building apps for the new Android Wear, you can check out the developer site.

Android Wear

• Everything you need to know about Android Wear 2.0
• LG Watch Sport review
• LG Watch Style review
• These watches will get Android Wear 2.0
• Discuss Android Wear in the forums!

New Home Control section in Google Assistant makes the Pixel way more useful

Google Assistant is starting to look more like an assistant.

If you have a Google Home or use the Nest or WeMo app on your Pixel, you probably already have a setting for Home Control in Google Assistant. With the latest Google app suite, everyone will see the same thing and know that Google Assistant can do more than tell you the weather or recite a poem.

The Home Control section is where you can add native support for products from Nest, Philips Hue lamps, WeMo devices and accessories, Honeywell thermostats and SmartThings devices. Once set up to work with Google Assistant, you’ll be able to control your stuff with voice commands from your Pixel the same way it works with Google Home.

You’ll find the new setting once you have the latest Google app and Play Services update right in line with the rest of your Google Assistant settings.

It’s worth noting that if you’ve previously set up any of these products to work with Assistant through IFTTT, both instances will be live and conflict can occur. I’ve noticed that the response is a little faster for my WeMo devices and Hue lamps using the native controls.

It’s great to see more being baked directly into Assistant so we don’t have to rely as heavily on third parties like IFTTT if we don’t want to. Keep ’em coming, Google!

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

Everything you need to know about YouTube on Google Daydream

Enjoying YouTube in VR is a blast with Daydream View.

YouTube is already one of the most popular apps available for Google Daydream. It was one of the launch titles, and it’s definitely got a new way for you to consume the videos that you need in your life. Enjoying Youtube in VR can make those videos more awesome than ever, and there is a lot going on within the app. That’s why we have all the details for you here!

Read more on VRHeads.com

The LG G6 is almost certainly going to have Google Assistant

Google Assistant is probably coming to the LG G6 for these reasons.

The LG G6 is almost certainly going to have Google Assistant, according to a teaser released by the company this week.

The company is spending the weeks before its MWC-based announcement hyping up particular aspects of its device. We’ve already learned that the phone will be waterproof, and have a screen with very slim bezels, and now there’s reason to believe Google Assistant — or some form of artificial intelligence — will be included.

Image: ZDNet

One of the more pervasive rumors since the LG G6 was pre-announced has been the expansion of the Google Assistant into third-party manufacturers from Google’s own Pixel lineup. We’ve seen that the company is willing to offer the service to other devices in the form of the new NVIDIA Shield Android TV and the LG Watch Sport and Style, so there’s no reason to believe that the G6, made by a company with whom Google has a very good relationship, won’t be the first third-party device with Assistant.

We’ll have to wait a few more weeks to be sure, though: the press conference is set for February 26.

LG G6

• LG G6 rumor roundup
• LG forums
• All the LG G6 news
• What the LG G6 needs to succeed

LG G6 teaser suggests phone may offer Google Assistant and Alexa

LG has sent out another teaser for its upcoming flagship.

The LG G6 will be unveiled later this month, and according to LG’s latest teaser for the device, it may include some sort of intelligent feature. Keep in mind there are persistent rumours floating around about the phone sporting Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa — or maybe even both. The teaser states “Less artificial. More intelligence” at the top and then “The next generation smartphone, brought to you first by LG” at the bottom.

Does that mean the LG G6 will be the first non-Google phone with Google Assistant? Or maybe it’ll beat Huawei and be the first phone with Amazon Alexa, as we still don’t know when the Huawei Mate 9 will get Alexa. Up until recently, Google Now was the default assistant on Android phones. Google Assistant on the Pixel phones has left many people clamoring for the more robust Google Assistant to be made available on more Android phones.

If we had to speculate, we’d say the phone is getting both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, as the statement about “more intelligence” seems to suggest that it’ll offer more than one form of intelligence (aka voice assistants). The two could work very well together on a single device when you consider Alexa’s huge well of defined skills and integrations and Google Assistant’s more conversational approach to AI assistants.

• LG G6: Release date, rumours and everything you need to know
• Mobile World Congress 2017: Nokia, Sony, Huawei, and more

Also, remember, at CES 2017 in January, LG adopted Alexa by embedding it into many smart devices, including a fridge. So, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities to think LG may also include it in its next phone. We’ll know more on 26 February. Pocket-lint will be at MWC 2017 to bring you all the latest news as it happens.

Amazon Tap goes hands-free: How to make it wake up to ‘Alexa’

Who owns an Amazon Tap? Anyone?

It’s not exactly the most compelling speaker in the Echo lineup, considering it isn’t a hands-free and can’t respond to the “Alexa” wake word. Instead, to wake Alexa, you have to tap the Tap. The 6.2-inch-tall cylinder speaker comes with a 7-piece microphone array and pretty much looks like a smaller, more portable version of Echo. It’s also more affordable. But, because it’s not always-on, it often gets ignored. 

Amazon is now changing all that. It just announced an over-the-air firmware update that gives the Tap an always-listening, hands-free mode. Here’s everything you need to know about the update.

What is Amazon Tap?

Amazon is one of three smart speakers in the Echo lineup. It followed the Amazon Echo and debuted alongside the Amazon Dot. You can learn more about each of these devices and how they differ in Pocket-lint’s comparison guide.

Prior to 9 February 2017, to use Tap, you had to download the Amazon Alexa app on iOS or Android and connect the Tap to your home’s Wi-Fi network. Then, just press the button on the front and starting talking to Alexa. It also has a Bluetooth pairing button on the back as well as a power button, an audio input port, and a Micro-USB port. You can plug the Tap in there or use the included cradle to charge it.

The Tap currently sells for $130.

How do you update Amazon Tap?

Amazon

Once you get the new firmware update, you will need to update and open the Alexa app on your phone or tablet. From there, go to Settings and enable the new Hands-free option. That’s it. Now you can wake Alexa without having to tap the speaker. However, the new hands-free mode will drain the battery quickly, as it requires the microphone to stay always-on — or active — at all times.

Can you mute Amazon Tap?

Yes. To mute the mic, hold down the play/pause button for three seconds. To un-mute, do the same thing.

What else does the firmware update do?

Amazon said the firmware update adds support for Echo Spatial Perception (ESP), which “works in environments with multiple Alexa-enabled devices to ensure that the correct device responds, or does not respond, when the ‘Alexa’ wake word is detected.”

When will the firmware update be available?

Amazon said the firmware update will roll out automatically over the air in the coming weeks.

Algae can survive nearly a year and a half in outer space

Algae from the Arctic Circle are used to tough weather, and it turns out they’re also able to survive the extreme conditions of outer space. Two specimens recently spent 16 months on the exterior of the International Space Station and became the first plants to make it through these conditions.

The algae, of the Sphaerocystis species, returned to Earth last June after 530 days on a panel outside the ISS, the Fraunhofer research organization announced last week. The specimens withstood conditions including intense ultraviolet radiation, temperatures ranging from -20°C to 47.2°C, and, of course, the vacuum of space.

That said, this all occurred in ideal conditions. “These algae had been desiccated [dehydrated] before they went into space, and during their time on the ISS they were kept dormant, with no growth, no development and almost no metabolism,” René Demets of the European Space Agency told New Scientist. “But the experiment shows that some terrestrial organisms are robust enough to cope with months of exposure to open space conditions without a spacesuit.”

Within days of returning, the algae began behaving normally again, but researchers have yet to examine potential damage to the algal DNA. As New Scientist notes, the survival of the algae adds credence to the “panspermia” theory, which suggests that comets and meteorites can bring life to sterile planets. It also provides insight into whether humans could transport plants to grow on other planets.

Source: New Scientist, Fraunhofer

Twitch ‘Communities’ help you find specific streams

Despite YouTube and Facebook’s best efforts, Twitch is still the king of video game live streaming. The platform’s popularity has given rise to a new problem though: discoverability. When so many different people are streaming, how do you find the channels that suit your particular interests? Enter “Communities,” a new type of hub page that users can build around specific games or topics. They can be about almost anything — speedrunning, comedy, or the joys of Jet Grind Radio. Each community is public and listed in a new Community directory. Streamers can then “target” them so their broadcast appears on the page’s “stream wall.”

Community “leaders” can choose a custom avatar, banner, and set specific rules for the page. They also have the power to ban and timeout channels deemed inappropriate for the group. Like Reddit, then, the onus is on Twitch’s community to monitor these hubs and stop them from spiralling out of control. The advantages are numerous though: now, a streamer can reach a specific, relevant audience on a broadcast-by-broadcast basis. If I’m usually playing League of Legends, for instance, but fancy streaming DJ Hero one night, I can target a music or rhythm games group that will know and appreciate what I’m doing. For streamers, that’s a useful way to diversify and reach new people who might become loyal subscribers.

Science confirms what we already know: It’s all in the hips

To find out what people think of lady dancing, you don’t need to head to the club. Instead, researchers in the UK outfitted female dancers with motion capture rigs, much like the ones that bring digital movie characters like Gollum or Jar Jar Binks to life. According to science, then, women who swing their hips while moving their legs and thighs independently are rated high on attractiveness.

In this study, published Thursday, the authors showed the digitized dance avatars to a group of heterosexual men and women. The basic mannequin-like animations allowed the researchers to control for any secondary variables that might denote hotness like clothing or hairstyle. In addition to hip swing and thigh independence, the resulting data suggests that we’re attracted to women dancers who move their arms a bit along with the hip shaking and leg shimmy. A previous study showed that we prefer male dancers who vary their movements of the neck and torso, move their right knee a lot and don’t swing their hips too much.

Researchers attribute the high rating of hip swing and asymmetric thigh movements to perceived fertility and high-quality motor control (it’s tough to move two limbs in different directions at the same time). The team also notes that sexy dancers can use variable combinations to heat up the dance floor, so you’re not stuck with one simple set of moves.

The findings themselves may not be the same across all societies, however. “Dance is strongly influenced by culture,” co-author Nick Neave told Popular Science, “so there may be some cultural differences in specific movements or gestures.”

At least you now know how to look hot on the dance floor. Honestly, though, go ahead and let the rhythm move you. Sometimes a dance move is just a dance move.

Via: Popular Science

Source: Nature