Location sharing is finally coming back to Google Maps

You will once again be able to share your location without using Google+.

A long time ago, we used to be able to share location data with friends through this app called Google Latitude. When Latitude and other apps were folded into Google Maps, the location sharing feature was migrated over to Google+. It looks like even Google has given up on people using that social network, as the feature is moving back to Google Maps in the next update. Even better, it looks like this feature is getting a huge update.

The UI in the new Maps update shows that some features from the Trusted Contacts app were found to be particularly useful, but this will be deeply integrated into the Maps experience. You’ll be able to share to individuals or groups, and have quite a bit of control over how long you are sharing and how often that information is updated.

Best of all, you won’t need to be an active Google Maps user to enjoy this feature. In fact, you won’t even need to be on mobile. Location sharing will be available on Android, iOS, and both mobile and desktop browsers. This is a deep sign of “about time” for those of us who have been using the feature since the Latitude days, and it’s going to be a wonderful addition to Maps when it finishes rolling out to everyone.

OnePlus is letting anyone buy this slick Midnight Black OnePlus 3T

There’s a new special edition OnePlus 3T, and you may actually be able to buy it this time.

A lot of going right for OnePlus these days. The company was among the first manufacturers to release Android 7.1.1 to two of its devices on the same day, and it managed to make all the nerds swoon in unison with the announcement of a special edition all-black OnePlus 3T in collaboration with Parisian fashion house, colette.

While that particular run was limited to 250 people, OnePlus has bigger plans for its so-called Midnight Black OnePlus 3T: not only is it releasing a limited run of the phone (another 250 units) in a “unique online pop-up sales event” starting at 4pm GMT at Hypebeast, but it will make the shade available to more people in Europe and North America “on OnePlus.net for a limited time at a later date.”

In other words, OnePlus is taking advantage of this artificial scarcity tactic.

“Our users have been asking for an all-black OnePlus 3T, so our team worked hard to bring them the most stunning OnePlus phone to-date in the OnePlus 3T Midnight Black,” said Pete Lau, OnePlus CEO, in a release. “This new version of our most successful phone so far combines powerful hardware, fast and smooth software and the finest attention to detail.”

According to the company, over 30 variations of the all-black design were tested before it (never) settled on this particular look and feel, going through a rigorous manufacturing process that includes “three carefully applied dark coatings 14 microns thick [to] maintain the natural look and feel of metal. Each phone undergoes two sandblasting treatments with various sizes of metal sand to bring out a bright, classy luster. To finish each device, an anti-fingerprint layer is applied to keep the device looking as pristine as the day you first take the phone out of the box.” Phew.

Each limited edition Midnight Black OnePlus 3T will have 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, and retail for USD 479 / EUR 479 / GBP 439, “while supplies last.” We will update the article when we know more about specific availability.

See at OnePlus

OnePlus 3T and OnePlus 3

• OnePlus 3T review: Rekindling a love story
• OnePlus 3T vs. OnePlus 3: What’s the difference?
• OnePlus 3T specs
• Latest OnePlus 3 news
• Discuss OnePlus 3T and 3 in the forums

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Virgin Media now offers 100Mbps fibre broadband as standard, 300Mbps upgrade to all

Virgin Media has rejigged its broadband price plans to make its up to 100Mbps service the standard option in the UK. It has also opened up its up to 300Mbps service to all customers in areas capable of getting those speeds. It was previously restricted.

Its prices also now come with line rental included in the quoted cost.

The price for the Vivid 100 solus package, for example, is £32.25 a month on a 12 month contract, which includes up to 100Mbps fibre broadband and line rental (which is a necessity).

Virgin Media also has a gamer specific deal, with a faster upload speed and no traffic management. That starts at £42.25 a month on a 12 month contract for up to 200Mbps fibre broadband and included line rental. The 300Mbps package also has faster upload speeds and no traffic management for £5 more.

The company has also announced that its Virgin TV V6 box is now available to all customers on a wider selection of monthly bundles. It is now included on the Mix, Fun and Full House bundles as standard.

The different broadband speed options for broadband are:

• Vivid 100 – 100Mbps download, 12Mbps upload – £32.25 a month
• Vivid 200 – 200Mbps download, 16Mbps upload – £37.25 a month
• Vivid 200 Gamer – 200Mbps download, 20Mbps upload – £42.25 a month
• Vivid 300 – 300Mbps download, 20Mbps upload – £47.25 a month

Prices for the bundles, including the V6 box, are:

• Mix bundle with Vivid 100 – £52 a month
• Fun bundle with Vivid 100 – £57 a month
• Full House bundle with Vivid 200 – £73 a month
• Full House bundle with Vivid 300 – £83 a month

18 great movie quotes that work with Sky Q voice search, try these out yourself

Sky started to roll out its long-awaited voice search feature to Sky Q boxes from Wednesday 22 March, and while not everyone will have the software update yet, there are plenty trying out right now.

All Sky Q boxes will have the update by the “end of spring” 2017 so you should get it soon if not already.

It enables viewers to search for TV shows and films by barking commands at the box, while pressing the small button on the top right-hand side of the touch remote. You can search using actor names, genres, even vague terms, like “Liverpool games”. However, one of the most interesting features is that you can also search for classic films by saying memorable movie quotes.

• What is Sky Q, how much does it cost and how can I get it?
• Sky Q review: 4K, multi-room support, apps and more

Naturally, not every famous quote will be recognised but there are still plenty. That’s why we’ve put together this list of many that we’ve been told about or found. Each one will find the movie it is from on Sky Q.

Why don’t you try them out on your own Sky Q box?

• “I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.” – Sunset Boulevard
• “Well, nobody’s perfect.” – Some Like it Hot
• “A boy’s best friend is his mother.” – Psycho
• “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.” – Cool Hand Luke
• “You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” – Dirty Harry
• “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” – The Godfather II
• “Yo, Adrian!” – Rocky
• “May the Force be with you.” – Star Wars
• “Surely you can’t be serious!” – Airplane!
• “Say ‘hello’ to my little friend!” – Scarface
• “Goose!” – Top Gun
• “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” – Wall Street
• “I’ll have what she’s having.” – When Harry Met Sally
• “You can’t handle the truth!” – A Few Good Men
• “Houston, we have a problem.” – Apollo 13
• “Show me the money!” – Jerry Maguire
• “You had me at ‘hello’.” – Jerry Maguire
• “My precious.” – The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers

How to get the limited edition OnePlus 3T in Midnight Black, but be quick

OnePlus has introduced a Midnight Black version of its popular flagship-killing phone. This all-black finish – according to OnePlus – was chosen after testing 30 different variations. It will initially be available in a limited run of 250 models, just like the special edition launched recently in partnership with Collette in Paris.

To be one of the first to get hold of it, you need to head to the Hypebeast listing at 4PM GMT on 24 March, and hope you’re among the first 250 customers to stump up the $479/€479/£439 for the 128GB phone with 6GB RAM. 

• OnePlus 3T tips and tricks: Master your 2017 flagship killer

If you aren’t fast enough, and they’ve sold out before you make it to the product listing, there will still be a chance to get hold of one soon.

OnePlus says you’ll be able to buy the Midnight Black version from its own online store at some point in the future in the US and Europe, although that will also be just for a limited time. 

OnePlus

To make the new colour, OnePlus applies three 14-micron thick dark coatings, which is thin enough to maintain the natural metallic look and feel of the solid aluminium body. After being coated, the phone goes through two sandblasting sessions to give it that reflective quality we’ve seen on the OnePlus 3T in the past.

Finally, a thin protective layer is applied to discourage excessive fingerprint smudges. If it’s as good as OnePlus claims, this should be enough to keep it looking new for a long time. 

• OnePlus 3T review: The best mid-price phone, now with Nougat sweetness

Inside, it’s the same OnePlus 3T we know and love from the end of 2016, and is easily one of the best phones you can buy, especially at the price.

The front hosts a 5.5-inch AMOLED Full HD screen and a fast fingerprint scanner. Its body is hewn from a single block of Aluminium, which is curved slightly on the back to give it an ergonomic feel.

Inside, powering the device, is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor along with a 3,300mAh battery which easily lasts all day and charges stupendously fast thanks to OnePlus’ Dash Charge. 

London police allegedly used hackers to target activists

If it wasn’t already clear why it’s a problem when police surveillance goes wrong, it is now. An independent investigator is looking into claims that London’s Metropolitan Police used an illegal, roundabout way to access the emails of activists and journalists. An anonymous former worker alleges that a Met intelligence unit took advantage of India “counterparts” that used hackers to obtain email logins for innocent people ranging from Greenpeace protesters to Guardian reporters. The snooping had been going on for a “number of years,” according to the insider, and there was reportedly widespread document shredding to cover up the monitoring.

There’s evidence to support the claim. The tipster provided passwords for 10 email accounts, most of which have been proven authentic by the users themselves.

The investigation is still early, but a police spokesman says that the claims are “deeply troubling” and that the force will provide its “fullest possible support.” If the allegations are as serious as they sound, though, they would represent a serious blow to the Met’s reputation. They would show that a key law enforcement division was regularly spying on people who weren’t even suspected of crimes, and was fully aware that it was doing something wrong.

Via: Ars Technica

Source: The Guardian, BBC

Lights out on a ghostly James Webb Space Telescope inspection

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) might be the most important scientific instrument ever developed. It’ll peer back in time over 13 billion years to the early universe and look for signs of life around the recently discovered TRAPPIST-1 planetary system.

Launching it next year to its final “L2 Lagrange point” orbit (around the Sun, not the Earth) a million miles away will be one of the most complex NASA missions ever. With an $8.8 billion budget and month-long wait before it’s deployed, it’s bound to be one of the most suspenseful, too.

As such, scientists want to ensure there’s not a single thing wrong when it’s launched next year. The JWST recently underwent “earsplitting” 150 decibel acoustic tests to ensure it’s ready to ride the Ariane 5 and its nearly 3 million pounds of maximum thrust. Prior to that, vibration tests were completed successfully last month after a delay in December caused by testing rig issues.

Shaking the telescope up is just part one, however. After that, teams must go in and look for pieces and particles that may have fallen off. First, the lights are turned out, then NASA’s “contamination control engineers” scour the JWST with bright and ultraviolet flashlights. Contamination stands out in a dark room, so it can easily be flagged by personnel.

That’s where this ghostly photo at the top of the article comes in. Getting a decent picture in the dark requires a long exposure, so NASA photographer Chris Gunn left the shutter open for what looks like at least a few minutes. The contamination technicians’ movements appears as blurs and half-exposed avatars, while their flashlights make flashes and lightning-like traces along the scope’s mirrored surfaces. Gunn said he also used a “light painting” technique to illuminate the main mirror.

As the telescope must unfold in space (it’s shown above in a stowed position on the Ariane 5 ESL), its dynamic structure makes testing a challenge compared to the fixed-position Hubble scope. “Webb is the first time we’re building for both stability and mobility,” said JWST engineer Lee Feinberg. “This means that JWST testing is very unique, complex, and challenging.”

Source: NASA

Instagram will help you book a haircut

Instagram will soon be about more than browsing your friends’ photographic adventures. The social service tells Bloomberg that it will soon add an option to book appointments by visiting a company’s profile. Yes, you could schedule that overdue haircut in between liking cat photos. The feature is only slated to arrive sometime within the “next couple months,” but there’s talk of adding reviews and other tools in the future.

It’s no secret as to why Instagram would make such a move. It’s determined to make shopping a mainstay feature, and appointment-based business is a logical extension of that. Garages, restaurants and salons may be more likely to buy those all-important Instagram ads if they know that the promos will lead directly to more reservations. And when Instagram notes that 80 percent of its many users follow at least one business, that’s a lot of potential new customers.

Source: Bloomberg

Google plans faster updates for all Android phones in 2017

If you didn’t get a timely update on your Moto, Samsung or HTC device, but your friend over there with the Google Pixel did, it’s not necessarily the manufacturer’s fault. The complexity of Android, especially when it comes to security, is also a big part of the problem. In fact, Google revealed that around half of the 1.4 billion Android devices out there didn’t get important security patches in 2016. This year, however, it plans to work more closely with smartphone makers to improve that stat.

You have reason to be skeptical about such talk. The Android Update Alliance fizzled out for commercial and logistical reasons, and Google’s vow to name and shame slow vendors probably didn’t create a strong rapport. Unfortunately, mandatory security fixes caused by exploits and other issues are more and more frequent, and the consequences of not fixing them increasingly dire.

At the same time, there are hundreds of carriers and manufacturers that have their own ways of testing and deploying patches. So, while Google Nexus and Pixel buyers are getting the latest security fixes immediately, other Android users often wait for months.

The Pixel and Pixel XL complete with the latest security fixes

However, Google tells Techcrunch that it has been working closely with manufacturers and recently got wait times down from six to nine weeks to several days. “In North America, just over 78 percent of flagship devices were current with the security update at the end of 2016,” said security lead Adrian Ludwig. An example of that is Samsung, which recently vowed to release security patches every month. (This just applies to security updates and doesn’t necessarily mean that your aging Galaxy device will get the latest Android OS more quickly, though.)

Google adds that it’s easing manufacturer security rollouts by releasing so-called A/B updates that reduce the likelihood of a bricked phone after a patch. It’s also reducing the size of security fixes to ensure faster downloads, and letting consumers install them without the need to give permission every time.

At the same time, Google is giving manufacturers information about updates from their peers in the industry. “Everyone knew the update rate was low but they thought it was caused by someone else,” said Ludwig. “Providing the information allowed them to take action.”

Google has also reduced harmful apps by scanning the Play store more often — 750 million times in 2016 compared to 450 million in 2017, to be exact. That helped them drop the frequency of trojans by 51.5 percent, backdoors by 30.5 percent, phishing apps by 73.4 percent and hostile downloaders by 54.6 percent compared to 2015. The company also made numerous fixes for Nougat in the areas of Encryption, audio and video and enterprise — which is great, assuming you’ve already got it.

Source: Google

Google Maps Introduces New Location Sharing Feature With Real-Time Friend Tracking

Google today announced an update coming to the iOS, Android, and desktop versions of Google Maps will introduce a way for users to share their real-time locations with friends and family. Google’s update differs from the location sharing in Apple Maps, Messages, and Find My Friends, which all lack the ability to follow friends around on a map in real-time.

In Google Maps on iOS, users will be able to tap into the app’s side menu, choose “Share Location,” and pick from a selection of approved contacts who will see their current location. Contacts are pulled from existing Google accounts, and users can also send links through Messages to friends who aren’t on their contacts list when they need to share their location.

After a user’s location is shared, their chosen contacts will see where they are within Google Maps, represented as a small face icon that moves in real-time according to where the sharer is located. A small icon above the compass in the app will remind users that their location is being shared for the period of time they requested, but they can also choose to end sharing early.

Google today posted a video to detail a real scenario where its location sharing feature could come in handy, focusing on the creation of a surprise birthday party. The video also shows off how users can share their car trips with friends, so they can see an ETA on when the sharer should be arriving.

Google said that location sharing will be rolling out worldwide sometime soon. Google Maps can be downloaded for free from the iOS App Store. [Direct Link]

Tag: Google Maps
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