Flipboard redesign encourages curation and sharing content with friends
Flipboard attempts a revival with new features, including the ability to curate your own publication and share it with friends.
If the Flipboard app interface was starting to feel a little dated to you, there’s good news. The company has launched a massive re-design of its news aggregation app, with a particular focus on design.
Flipboard 4.0 is introduced as the response to the company’s “ever-growing ecosystem” of sources, the idea being that if you catch up on all the news and social media happenings through one specific app, that it should be easy to parse. To that end, Flipboard’s new interface prioritizes topics over sources. The new algorithm will continually fine tune what you like to read as long as you interact with it by liking stories or following publications. You can go even deeper by selection those very specific topics you keep up with daily (mine would be alumni actors of out-of-commission TV shows).
Flipboard also introduced a collaborative new Smart Magazines feature, which lets you share a curated publication of sorts. You choose what goes into the Smart Magazine and then you can invite your pals to also read the content — like a shared RSS feed. They can make their own, too.
There’s more information about what the update entails at the official blog post, including a how-to on honing your Flipboard so that you rely on it for daily reading.
Open Signal: Verizon and T-Mobile are in a virtual tie for the best network in the U.S.
Verizon is a little bit faster, and T-Mobile’s network is growing like a weed.
Open Signal has released their State of Mobile Networks: USA report and they say Verizon has now tied T-Mobile for the fastest carrier in the United States, and the results are so close between the two that they are virtually tied for the “best.”
Using data collected from 169,683 users, 4,599,231,167 data points were used to measure network speeds on both 4G and 3G, network availability and latency. The data is collected by users installing the Open Signal app from Google Play or the App Store and going about their daily routine.
In their analysis of the collected data, they say that Verizon has improved their 4G network speeds to pull even with T-Mobile who has traditionally done well in this category. They also mention that the average overall network speeds in the U.S. have risen slightly, and over 81% of U.S. residents have access to LTE networks.
Availability of high-speed data services shows that all four carriers have improved, but T-Mobile (86.6%) is now within two percentage points of Verizon (88.2%) when it comes to finding an LTE signal. The company with the most improvement here is Sprint, who jumped from covering 69.9% in August to 76.8% in February 2017.
Verizon or T-Mobile performed the best in every category tested, and the final results show that any measurable advantage T-Mobile or Verizon previously held in nationwide network testing has shrunk to the point of being insignificant. You still need to pick the carrier service that works bets for you, but overall either Red or Magenta should have you covered.
The best part is that they now need to fight even harder for our dollars.
How the Withings Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor helped save Modern Dad
Fun fact: Seven years of running Android Central might well leave you with high blood pressure. Or maybe it was just a coincidence. …
That’s the bad news. … The good news is that 2016 was the year I decided to take my health a little more seriously. Step 1: Get a doctor. That led to Step 2: Find out that I indeed had high blood pressure, and start dealing with that. And that led to Step 3: Keep track of how the ol’ blood beater is beating on a daily basis.
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So it was time to snag a blood pressure monitor. I started with your basic Amazon best-seller. And that was fine. It did the job, and it even had a little bit of smarts to it. But I wanted something even smarter, even more connected.
So I turned to Withings, whose connected scaled I’d already been using for some time. And their wireless blood pressure monitor has served me very well since I started keeping track of things. Probably as impressive as anything is that in the six months or so that I’ve been using it, I still haven’t had to change out the batteries. (Which, strangely, was my biggest concern.)
This one works excellently with Android and Google Fit, as well as iOS and HealthKit.
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Pinterest Lens uses a camera to search items around you in real time
Ever see a piece of decor and wish you could search it on Pinterest?
The service is designed to let you find things related to what really intrigues you. However, if you want to use Pinterest, you must recall what you once wanted to look up, or you need to grab your phone in the moment and start searching keywords, which is time consuming, especially if you prefer to casually browse and find relevant pins to save. Well, Pinterest has launched a game-changing feature that streamlines this process.
Called Pinterest Lens, the feature is described as something people can use if they happen to spot an item out in the world that looks interesting, but when they try to search for it online later, words fail them: “You have this rich, colorful picture in your mind, but you can’t translate it into the words you need to find it,” Pinterest explained in a 8 February post, which announced Lens is available in beta.
Lens lets you use the camera in your Pinterest app to search for objects you see out in the real world. Just point Lens at a table, then tap to see related styles or even ideas for how you can build something similar yourself. Or try it on a pair of shoes. You can also use Lens with food to find recipes. Pinterest said Lens currently works best for finding “home decor ideas, things to wear, and food to eat.”
However, as more people use Lens, which is based on a visual search technology that Pinterest introduced in 2015, the range of objects Lens recognises will grow wider. Lens will roll out in the US in “the coming weeks” in the Pinterest for iPhone or Android app. To complement this feature, Pinterest also introduced Shop the Look, a tool that identifies clothing items in pins that can be bought through partners.
Shop the Look is currently available for brands including CB2, Macy’s, Target, Neiman Marcus, and Wayfair.
Windows 10 Creature Update adds picture-in-picture, is feature-complete for April roll out
Two months before the release of the Creators Update, Microsoft has announced a new feature included in the upcoming upgrade.
PC owners who run the Creators Update will get picture-in-picture support. Microsoft is calling the feature “Compact Overlay”. It will be available for all app developers making Universal Windows apps, and it’ll be available in built-in apps like Movies & TV or Skype. The feature essentially allows you to watch something like a Skype video call in a window that can hover above another window or app you may be using.
Microsoft Windows 10 Creators Update: What’s new?
Microsoft is currently testing Compact Overlay as part of the latest Windows 10 build 15031, which the company made available for fast ring insiders on 8 February. Microsoft also revealed Wednesday that Windows 10 Creators Update is feature-complete, meaning all of the new features are finished – apart from any bugs that may be found – for the update’s official release coming to consumers this spring.
Microsoft will make the Windows 10 Creators Update available to new and existing PCs in April.
Facebook’s ‘Lite’ app has over 200 million users (updated)
Just because you’re using Facebook Lite, it doesn’t mean you want to compromise on features. Neither do any of the 200 million users worldwide taking advantage of the bare-bones version of the app. Fortunately, there’s an update that rolls out many missing features today such as the ability to Like, Comment and Share posts. Facebook created Lite as a pared down version of its main app in 2015 for lower-end Android phones with spotty network connections. COO Sheryl Sandberg was keen to outline the benefits that users of the standalone app are getting. Business users, for example, can use the more feature-rich update to reach mobile-only and mobile-first customers while using less data.
Performance improvements are a given with any update, especially when the company wants to assure a fast, reliable connection to the social network no matter what. Facebook has also found that people who use Facebook Lite tend to share phones, so it has provided an easier way to log on and off their accounts in this new update.
The update brings Facebook Lite to more regions, including the definitely not emerging markets of South Korea, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Italy. It’s available in 150 countries in addition to the original eight of Bangladesh, Vietnam, Nigeria, Nepal, South Africa, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
Update: Contrary to the information we initially received, Facebook has confirmed it added Like/Comment/Share support to the Lite app last March, when it announced over 100 million monthly active users. We have updated this post to reflect that.
Source: Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook), Facebook Lite
Apple’s 10th anniversary iPhone could cost over $1,000
To mark 10 years of metal and glass slabs, Apple is expected to debut an ultra high-end version of the iPhone alongside its next scheduled update. According to a report from Fast Company, Tim Cook and company will likely roll out three new phones this year: the incremental iPhone 7S in the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch sizes, as well as a slightly larger, even more expensive 5.8-inch iPhone 8 with an edgeless OLED display and a few completely new features.
To really play up the 10th anniversary bit, Apple may even call the new flagship model the “iPhone X,” and the price is expected to shoot up past the $1,000 mark. That’s not too far-fetched by Apple’s standards, considering a maxed-out iPhone 7 Plus already costs $969 unlocked. We’ve heard rumors of an OLED iPhone before, but Fast Company’s sources seem to confirm its existence. They higher-end screen alone is expected to cost Apple twice as much as the LCD displays it currently uses and with only Samsung’s OLEDs meeting Apple’s strict tolerances, the company is reportedly hogging up manufacturing capacity as well. There’s also a chance the iPhone 8/iPhone X will eliminate physical buttons entirely by incorporating the Home button into the screen itself and replacing the side buttons with touch-sensitive inlays in a metal frame with a glass back.
Probably the most interesting rumor about the next-generation iPhone, however, is Apple’s partnership with Lumentum. According to Fast Company’s sources, Apple plans to incorporate Lumentum’s 3D-sensing technology into the flagship phone in some way — which could mean anything from better camera performance to advanced augmented reality features or even a facial recognition system that could supplement Touch ID. Of course, these features are just rumors at this point, so take them with a big lick of salt for now.
Source: Fast Company
Intel will finish a $7 billion semiconductor factory in Arizona
Intel plans to complete Fab 42, a semiconductor factory in Chandler, Arizona, with an investment of more than $7 billion over the next three to four years. At its peak, the factory will employ about 3,000 process engineers, equipment technicians, and facilities-support engineers and technicians. Fab 42 will produce 7 nanometer chips and is “expected to be the most advanced semiconductor factory in the world” — whatever that means.
As noted by New York Times technology reporter Farhad Manjoo and others on Twitter, Intel’s investment in Fab 42 wasn’t the result of new federal subsidies or credits. However, the company chose to announce the move at the White House, where cameras captured Intel CEO Brian Krzanich offering President Donald Trump a gift and explaining how regulatory US tax policies have “disadvantaged” his business in the past.
Thank you Brian Krzanich, CEO of @Intel. A great investment ($7 BILLION) in American INNOVATION and JOBS! #AmericaFirst🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/76lAiSSQ1l
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2017
Intel isn’t alone in using the president as a way to generate media interest in an existing business deal. In December, Trump gave Sprint a signal boost when he congratulated the company on its decision to bring 5,000 jobs to the United States. Despite Trump’s attempts to take credit for the deal, it was in fact put together months before he was elected.
Intel also isn’t the only tech company making moves in Arizona — most recently, Uber moved its fleet of custom, self-driving Volvo XC90 SUVs to the state after a tiff with the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
Source: Intel
Windows 10 is getting a picture-in-picture mode
Microsoft just made it easier to use multiple applications at once on Windows 10, especially when dealing with video-focused programs. The company released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 15031 to developers today, and the main attraction is the introduction of so-called Compact Overlay windows.
The new feature allows users to run a program in a small window that’s pinned above other applications, so it can be seen without being as intrusive as a standard window. Compact Overlay windows appears useful when dealing with video. For example, keeping a YouTube clip or Skype call visible in the corner would make it easier for users to do things like take notes or check email while not losing sight of the video.
The good news for developers is that Compact Overlay windows “work just like normal windows in all other ways,” so it should be relatively painless to adapt existing programs to be compatible with the feature. It’s unclear if Compact Overlay windows can be resized or used with Snap (a feature just pulled from Xbox One). We’ve asked Microsoft to clarify. The update also adds full-screen Game Bar support for 52 games, including Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto titles.
Microsoft isn’t the only company dabbling in picture-in-picture modes. Apple last year debuted a similar feature for MacOS, which works in much the same way, but is only compatible with Safari and iTunes. Compact Overlay windows are only available to developers at the moment, although Microsoft says that the Skype Preview and Movies & TV apps will soon be updated to take advantage of the new feature.
Source: Windows
SpaceX aims to launch ISS resupply mission on February 18th
After one of its Falcon 9 rockets exploded on the launch pad last September, SpaceX sprinted to get back on track, and achieved a successful comeback launch in mid-January. To deal with the backlog of launches delayed by the accident, the company set an ambitious schedule of liftoffs every two to three weeks. The first of these, they announced today, will be an ISS resupply mission using one of their Dragon capsules set to fly on February 18th.
Targeting Feb. 18 for Dragon’s next resupply mission to the @Space_Station — our 1st launch from LC-39A at @NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 8, 2017
The shipment will include tons of supplies and equipment, including an instrument to monitor the ozone layer from outside the space station. But unlike the comeback launch, which lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the resupply mission will hopefully be the first to launch from pad LC-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The pad is likely key to meeting their rapid launch schedule after their previous Florida site at Cape Canaveral is still undergoing repairs after the September failure. Future liftoffs are planned for the new pad, including a commercial satellite launch for Echostar that was bumped up to late February to fit in the ISS resupply mission.
Via: TechCrunch
Source: SpaceX (Twitter)
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