Satellite footage shows Apple’s ‘spaceship’ campus go up in just 18 seconds.

Why it matters to you

The satellite-shot aerial footage gives you an idea of the amount of work that went into building Apple’s ambitious new campus.

Apple’s so-called “spaceship campus,” officially known as Apple Park, is close to completion, though some workers have already started to move in.

With so much interest in the project, a number of drone enthusiasts have been flying their remotely controlled birds over the sprawling Cupertino complex to capture its development ever since construction work started in 2013.

For something a little bit different, we’re posting a new video (above) shot from way up higher. The high-res imagery comes courtesy of a Planet Labs satellite, which began snapping photos of the campus site in September, 2015 (here’s a drone video of the location taken at around the same time). The video condenses the last two years of work at the site into a mere 18 seconds.

Several viewings are needed to take in the myriad of changes that have transformed the 175-acre plot of land over the last 20 months or so, with the donut-shaped main building taking center stage.

Also look out for the development of the subterranean, 1,000-seat Steve Jobs Theater at the bottom of the screen, marked about by its ground-level entrance featuring a circular, metallic carbon-fiber roof.

You can just see one of the solar-panel-topped parking garages at the bottom of the picture, too.

With most of the exterior construction work completed, the end of the video reveals the beginnings of the landscaping efforts, but with as many as 7,000 trees expected to be planted throughout the location, it’s clear that there’s still much to be done in that area.

Apple Park, which aims to run entirely on renewable energy, is also home to several fitness centers, dining facilities, a visitor center, and a shiny new R&D facility where Jony Ive and co. can dream up new kit.

Over the coming months, Apple’s $5-billion campus will become home to 12,000 of the company’s employees. The site is the work of acclaimed U.K. architect Norman Foster, although the project was the long-time ambition of Steve Jobs, who championed the plan up until his untimely death in 2011.

San Francisco-based Planet Labs launched at the end of 2010 and offers high-res imagery to a range of clients. It recently purchased the Terra Bella satellite network from Google as part of expansion plans to become a leading provider of Earth imagery shot from way up high.

HTC U11 in solar red now available in the UK

Dual-SIM red U11 launches via HTC’s online store, priced £649.

Just a few days after its launch in the U.S., HTC has announced that the vibrant “solar red” version of its U11 flagship is now available to pre-order in the UK.

It’s available exclusively from HTC’s online storefront at HTC.com, where it sells for £649. Unlike the other U11 colors, the red variant is only available as a dual-SIM model — however, the dual-SIM version can be used just like its single-SIM counterpart, with a SIM + microSD card.

The solar red U11 is the most striking color for HTC’s latest smartphone, shifting between a deep red and bright, lustrous gold depending on the angle at which it’s held. Beyond the change in color and the addition of a second SIM slot, you’re getting the same excellent Android flagship we reviewed back in May: A speedy device with a unique glass-backed design, and one of the best cameras out there.

See at HTC

HTC U11

• HTC U11 review
• HTC U11 specs
• Manufacturing the U11: Behind the scenes
• Join our U11 forums
• HTC U11 vs Galaxy S8
• HTC U11 vs LG G6

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Canon EOS M6 review: Canon’s best mirrorless yet, but is that good enough?

The Canon take on the mirrorless camera market has been interesting: having lackadaisically introduced the M-series system in a bid to avoid undercutting its own DSLR business, it had taken Canon years to establish a more viable M-series camera. That happened in 2016 with the EOS M5.

Move into 2017 and the Japanese maker is now concentrating its moves in mirrorless, with the step-up EOS M6 further enhancing the line-up with a more comprehensive control system, while ditching the built-in viewfinder (an accessory one can be added). It’s altogether less DSLR-styled and, finally, begins to put Canon in a position where its mirrorless product is genuinely capable.

The problem the M6 faces, however, is that it’s not particularly competitive. With the likes of the Panasonic Lumix GX80 and even viewfinder-toting Fujifilm X-T20 offering more for the same asking price, is the M6 relying on its Canon brand name beyond its capability?

Canon EOS M6 review: What’s new versus M5?

• No viewfinder, includes hotshoe (for optional EVF-DC2)
• Adds stacked control dial layout
• Latest 24.2MP sensor and 45-point autofocus

The main difference between EOS M5 and M6 is their physical design – the M6 cutting out the viewfinder compared to the M5’s built-in solution. But just because it’s done away with the finder, that doesn’t mean it removes the possibility of having one: as the hotshoe up top shows.

The M6 also adds a stacked control dial, which is a feature we’ve seldom seen from Canon (think of the G7X compact and the like). It makes using the camera simple without being overcomplicated, avoiding those deep-dive menu digs that older M-series cameras demanded.

Interestingly, Canon has avoided the “Guided UI” in the M6 – which is designed to assist relative newcomers to understand what each shooting mode does, represented in a visual form – unlike in the EOS 800D DSLR. We think that newcomers and established photographers will grasp the M6 without issue though.

• Canon EOS 800D preview: Mid-range made accessible

The overall look of the M6 is rather high-end, dressed in a shiny silver-colour finish for the review sample we’ve been loaned – it’s altogether less plasticky in look and feel than the larger M5. The M6’s body is relatively small, too, but as Canon uses a larger sensor than, say, the Panasonic G-series cameras, it’s small rather than pocket-sized in scale.

Canon EOS M6 review: How does it perform?

• 45-point Dual Pixel AF autofocus
• 1-point, zone and tracking AF modes
• Canon EOS M lens mount

The M6’s autofocus system is the same 45-point Dual Pixel AF setup as you’ll find in the earlier M5 (plus EOS 80D, 77D and 800D (ignoring their through-the-viewfinder setups)), which delivers on-sensor phase detection autofocus, paired with contrast-detect autofocus, for speedy results.

And it genuinely works well – just as we said of the M5. It’s quick and doesn’t need to hunt excessively to find focus, although the included 18-55mm kit lens with this model has a maximum aperture limit of f/5.6 at its full extension which isn’t particularly effective in low-light conditions. There are other more capable lenses available, however, should you want to splash out some extra cash.

But there’s a caveat to that focus system: the three focus options – 1-point, zone and tracking – lack the complexity of the competition, such as the Panasonic Lumix GX80. The Panasonic offers a Pinpoint focus mode, for example, which offers a more refined method for, as the name suggests, pinpoint focus acquisition. We feel the Panasonic is faster and the better established system of the two.

Given the EOS M6 is £840 with its kit lens and isn’t compatible with Canon’s (EF/EF-S) DSLR lenses without an adapter, therefore there’s a good argument to lean towards a different mirrorless system if you’re looking for more advanced focus options.

Canon EOS M6 review: Screen and optional finder

• 3-inch, 1,040k-dot, tilt-angle LCD touchscreen

Another slight difference in the M6 compared to the M5 is the way its screen is mounted on the variable bracket: it can’t flip around to face forward for selfies, but we don’t think that’s any major loss.

It does tilt upward, however, which is a must-have feature for us these days. It’s easy to manipulate the screen to position it for waist-level work, or less conspicuous shooting.

What’s best of all about the screen, however, is its touch-sensitivity. It’s responsive, with sensitivity options within the menu allowing for responsiveness adjustment to your preference, which is something other manufacturers ought to take into consideration. Either a tap on the screen or a press-and-drag will move the autofocus area with ease, making the M6 system about as easy to use as a smartphone.

If you’re really keen for a viewfinder then, well, it’d be cheaper to consider buying the M5 instead (even if it’s not as nice looking a camera). The EVF-DC2 accessory finder for the M6 – which offers a 2.36m-dot resolution over its 0.39-inch panel – is only likely to make sense if you have other compatible Canon compact cameras. But it’s a feature that we’d rather have than not, so no harm done there.

Canon EOS M6 review: Image quality

• 24.2MP sensor
• Digic 7 processor
• 7fps in continuous autofocus

We’ve found the EOS M6 to perform ok, then, but what really sets it apart from much of the competition is the resulting image quality from the 24.2-megapixel sensor at its heart. This is Canon’s speciality and, ultimately, the reason to buy an M-series over most competitors (although we think Fuji gives it a run for its money).

When shooting in great lighting conditions the sharp results at ISO 100 look colourful, bright and crisp. The higher ISO sensitivities aren’t shy of displaying a touch of image noise, though, as we said of the EOS M5 – but that helps to keep extra perceptible sharpness in those lower-light shots and a greater sense of realism to the images. Because Canon uses a larger sensor than most of its mirrorless competition, it has that advantage of more room to play with.

The biggest caveat to image quality, as with any interchangeable lens camera, is the lens on the front. And that 18-55mm isn’t all that; it’s a bit soft towards the edges, which doesn’t give the best universal soft background effect, while sharpness isn’t as biting as we found with the 50mm f/1.8 we used with the EOS M5 camera.

Interestingly there are heaps of Canon EF lenses that can be used with the EOS M series. Well, if you buy an adapter. Problem is that adapter adds mass and the lenses protrude further from the body, which is unavoidable given their design, but it then makes us wonder why not just buy, say, the 800D DSLR instead? That’s an ongoing battle in Canon’s mirrorless versus DSLR line-up.

Anyway, back to EOS M6’s capabilities. It’s the second interchangeable Canon camera to implement Digic 7 processing, which means it’s super-fast, able to shoot at 7fps in continuous autofocus mode. With the right SD card on board the buffer is significant too, avoiding clogging-up after taking a batch of images. It’s no Fuji X-T2 beater, but it won’t exactly limit you.

Canon EOS M6 review: Video and connectivity

• 1080p at 60/50/30/25/24fps (no 4K)
• 3.5mm mic jack (no headphones)
• Wi-Fi & Bluetooth LE app control

It’s a 4K world these days, with the likes of Panasonic, Fujifilm and, well, just about any maker pushing 4K movie capture. Not so with the Canon EOS M6: it’s limited to Full HD (1080p) instead. The frame rates are all-encompassing, though, with 60/50fps for smooth capture, or 24fps for a more cinematic look if you wish. We shot some alligators in Louisiana and everything looked silky smooth in motion.

There’s also a 3.5mm microphone socket, but no headphones jack. So if you’re looking for a miniature interchangeable lens camera for high-end video work, ultimately the M6 isn’t the one. It’s all about casual shooting, with touchscreen autofocus adjustment making that just fine and dandy.

The M6 also supports Bluetooth LE (low energy) and Wi-Fi, which bubble away in the background for remote control of the camera via the associated smart app on a phone or tablet. This is a pretty smart move, as the constant connection and re-connection of cameras when it comes to smart apps is overly fussy. If you find much use for remote controlling the camera in the first instance, that is.

Verdict

The Canon EOS M6 is as much a success as it is a conundrum: it’s well built, easy to control and works well thanks to that tilt-angle touchscreen and combination of physical dials. In that regard this is Canon aligning its mirrorless camera into its best position to date.

What acts against the EOS M6, however, is that it ultimately isn’t better than the competition. The Panasonic Lumix GX80 has better autofocus and offers 4K video smarts for the much less money. The Fujifilm X-T20 embodies the shiny, retro style with similar performance – and, pound for pound, throws in the viewfinder for free. The Canon is fine, but fine doesn’t always quite cut it.

What will sell the M6 are two things: the brand name and the resulting image quality. Sure, it lacks a bevy of EF-M lens availability, while its competitors have more native glass options, but the quality that comes straight out of this camera is great.

Buy the M6 without trying any other cameras out there and you’ll be more than happy – that’s the crux of it. But if you play with the competition then you’ll see the M6 can’t be considered king in many regards. Wait for the price to drop, however, and Canon is – finally – getting its finger onto the mirrorless camera pulse.

The alternatives to consider…

Panasonic Lumix GX80

Similar in style, but more affordable, more capable with autofocus, and full of more features too. It might not look as silver and shiny, but Panasonic betters the EOS in almost every regard.

Read the full article: Panasonic GX80 review

Fujifilm X-T20

It’s a fair bit bigger on account of a built-in viewfinder – which, by the way, is excellent – but the Fuji can easily take on the Canon in terms of image quality, plus has heaps of features to boot.

Read the full article: Fuji X-T20 review

HTC U11 looks stunning in solar red, pre-orders open now

HTC has started pre-orders for one of its sexiest-looking phones yet.

The “solar red” version of the HTC U11 is, in our opinion, a real looker. HTC’s manufacturing processes for this range of handsets has created a red-backed device that shimmers and shines as it catches the light and that really comes to the fore with this specific model.

It changes from a deep, involving red to a searing orange, depending on the light.

• HTC U11: Release date, specs and everything you need to know
• HTC U11: What can you do with a squeezable phone?
• HTC U11 vs Samsung Galaxy S8: What’s the difference?

You can pre-order the solar red HTC U11 from htc.com from today. It’s priced at £649 SIM-free in the UK.

The red HTC U11 is listed on the site as coming as a dual SIM only device, but can be used with just the one SIM.

The silver, black and blue models are also available – and they come in single SIM variants.

Pocket-lint

The HTC U11, as we note in our extensive review, is a great flagship phone and a welcome return to the company’s best. It comes with a fancy gimmick – the ability to squeeze the sides of the handset to access features – but is an all-round solid Android smartphone with a Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of RAM and 3,000mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0.

Its 5.5-inch screen has a 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution and the rear and front cameras are 16-megapixel and 12-Ultrapixel snappers respectively.

What’s the point of Snapchat and how does it work?

You’ve probably heard about Snapchat. It’s the popular mobile app that allows you to send videos and pictures, both of which will self destruct after a few seconds of a person viewing them.

Snapchat is also a fun messaging app. You can capture a photo or brief video with it, then add a caption or doodle or filter/lens over top, and send the finished creation (called a snap) to a friend. Alternatively, you can add your snap to your “story”, a 24-hour collection of all your snaps that’s broadcasted to the world or just your followers.

But these are merely part of the many features within Snapchat. Yes, at its core, Snapchat is used to send photos and videos to friends. Your friends can view snaps for up to 10 seconds, and then the snaps disappear. While that’s all fine and dandy, many people are still left stumped by Snapchat.

They can’t seem to understand why someone would actually want to send pictures or videos to friends, especially if they can’t be saved. Well, they can be “saved”, because Snapchat has more to offer than what meets the eye.

What is Snapchat?

Snapchat is a photo- and video-messaging app. It launched in 2011.

Snapchat is unique in that all photos and videos only last a brief amount of time before they disappear forever, making the app ephemeral in nature, though you can take a screenshot of all the snaps you receive to save them in picture form. You can also save your own snaps before sending them to friends or you story.

As of May 2014, the app’s users were sending 700 million snaps a day. Due to the instant popularity of Snapchat, Facebook reportedly offered to acquire Snapchat for $3 billion. One of the app’s cofounders declined the cash offer, however. Facebook later launched a similar app, called Slingshot, but it failed to catch on.

Who uses Snapchat?

Everyone uses Snapchat. But it is directed toward teens and adults.

Snapchat is mostly a hit among teenagers, according to several research firms, though it is catching on and embracing new demographics every day. Viners (creators who used Vine), YouTubers, and celebrities, for instance, are known to use Snapchat as an alternative means of communicating with their followers.

What’s the point of Snapchat?

We could give a long explanation to describe how social media and apps are evolving in order to match the current trends and interests of active users around the world, but we’ll just share the above video instead. It not only gives a humorous and quick overview of Snapchat, but it also provides an interesting take or look at why Snapchat is so popular at this moment in time, especially among teenagers.

(It’s made by Casey Neistat, a popular YouTube creator.)

What’s all the lingo mean?

Here are some of the common terms and phrases used in the Snapchat world:

Snapchatters: Snapchat users.

Snaps: Photos or videos taken with Snapchat. You can send a snap to another snapchatter, but it can only be viewed by the recipient for one to 10 seconds before it disappears forever. To take a snap, open Snapchat, then hit the capture button on the Camera screen.

Snapback: A reply to a snap.

Story: A snap you can broadcast to followers. Recipients can view your story an unlimited amount of times in 24 hours, and you can post multiple snaps to your story in one day to create a narrative loop of sorts. You can access your story and your friends’ stories from the Stories screen (swipe from right to left on the Camera screen).

Scores: A special equation combining the number of snaps you’ve sent and received, stories you’ve posted, and other factors. You can find a friend’s score when you hold down on a friend’s name in your contact list, story feed, or chat area. You can find yours under your Snapcode located in the center of your Profile screen.

Snapcode: Snapcodes are scannable codes that make adding new Snapchat friends even easier. Your Snapcode is located in the center of your Profile Screen, which you can access by tapping the ghost icon in the upper center of the Camera Screen.

Chat: A feature that lets you directly message other Snapchatters. You can access the Chat screen by swiping from left to right on the Camera screen. Tap the create new message button in the upper corner to select a friend to chat with. Alternatively, when you create a snap, select a friend to send it to, and you’ll see a new private chat box appear between you and your friend in the Chat screen.

Video chat: This is a feature within Chat that lets you start a live video call. To start a video chat, simply tap the video record button in a chat. If your friend is available they can choose to ‘Watch’ or ‘Join’. If your friend chooses to ‘Watch’ you will be unable to see them but they can hear you, see you, and send you chats. If your friend chooses to ‘Join’ you will be able to see and hear each other.

Snapstreak: You may have noticed that some of your fellow snapchatters have different emojis next to their Snapchat names in the Chat screen. That means you’re on a Snapstreak, aka you and your friend have snapped each other (not chat) within 24 hours for more than one consecutive day.

Lenses: You can make Snaps even more fun by adding real-time special effects and sounds with lenses. Go to the Camera screen in Snapchat, tap on your face, and lens options will appear below. Swipe left to select the lens you want to use, then tap the capture button to take a snap.

Filters: You can zazz up your snap by adding a fun overlay with a filter. After you take a Snap, swipe right or left on the preview screen to add colored filters, the current time, local weather, speed overlays or geofilters to your snaps. After taking your snap and applying your first Filter, you can press and hold then swipe to add another filter too.

How does Snapchat work?

We’ll be the first to admit that Snapchat is so simple it’s almost confusing.

The app’s main screen is your Camera screen, and that can be initially a little jarring or weird to navigate around. Try to remain calm however and keep reading to learn exactly how Snapchat works. By the time you’re done our mini tutorial, you’ll be snapping like a 14 year old.

Camera screen

First thing’s first: Download Snapchat (it’s free) and create an account and user ID. Once that’s done, the app will always open and show the Camera screen straightaway. The Camera screen serves as the main screen.

The top left-hand corner has a flash icon for toggling your camera’s flash, while the top-right corner has a camera button for toggling the camera between front- and rear-facing mode. The top-center area has a ghost icon, which if tapped, opens up your Profile screen.

On the bottom of the Camera screen there is a big round capture button for taking photos and videos. Hold the camera button down to record a video with sound, or tap the camera button to take a picture.

The bottom left-hand corner of the main screen has a square icon that will display in numbers how many unread snaps are waiting for you. Tap it or swipe from left to to right to access your Chat screen and view any unread snaps. From the Chat screen you can directly message friends and search.

The bottom right corner of the Camera screen has a Stories icon. Tap it or swipe from right to left to see any available stories. On the Stories Screen, you’ll also be able to discover content from publishers like ESPN, Food Network, etc.

Adding a contact

Swipe down while on the Camera screen or tap the ghost icon at the top to access your Profile screen and add contacts. You’ll see options to view who has added you, find friends to add, and browse all friends. You’ll also see a gear icon in the top right of the Profile screen for accessing settings. If you want skip all that, swipe from the bottom or tap the Capture button to exit the Profile screen.

Creating a Snapcode

Speaking of the Snapcode, while on the Profile screen, tap your Snapcode to add a custom selfie loop that others can see.

Making a snap

While on the main screen, tap the large capture button to take a snap, or hold it down to record a video. Once you’ve finished, a preview screen will appear with options for adding filters, adjusting view length, sending the snap, and more. There’s a timer button in the top left-hand corner, followed by a save button to download your snap to the Memories section, and another button to add a snap to your story.

At the top of the Preview screen, you’ll see an X to exit, a sticker button to add stickers and emoji (if you’ve made a video, you can hold down on a sticker to get it to stick to one place in the video), a T button that lets you add text, and a pencil button that lets you select a color and doodle.

Simply use your finger to select a colour and start tracing or drawing whatever you want on the snap displayed in the preview screen. You can also tap anywhere on the preview screen to access a keyboard and add text (but only after you tap-to-close the colour slider). It’s pretty simple, actually.

You can also slide from left or right on the Preview screen to add various filters based on your location, the current time, the current temperature, the speed you may be traveling at, and more. There’s also ones that just change the colour and look of your snap. Simply swipe around until you find one you like.

When everything is ready to go, you will see a snap length icon in the bottom left of your screen. It should be a circle with a number in it. The number represents how many seconds the recipient will have to view your snap. Tap this icon to adjust length time from 1 second to 10 seconds.

Sending a snap

The only icon on the Preview screen that we haven’t discussed yet is the arrow-shaped icon on the bottom right. Tap it to send your snap to a friend. A send-to screen should open. You will then need to select recipients. Once done, send your snap by tapping the second arrow icon that appears.

You might have noticed that one of the recipient options listed on the send-to screen said “My Story”. This option will add your snap to your story, but again, we will discuss that in detail below.

Viewing a snapback

To view your unread snaps, go to the Camera screen and select the square/numbered icon on the bottom left. A feed of all your sent snaps and snap replies (aka snapbacks) will be listed, including any new snaps from friends. Just tap any one to view it for a limited amount of time. Remember: Snaps disappear.

So, be ready to take a screenshot, if you want (though the recipient will be notified if you take a screenshot). You also get one free daily replay to view it again. You must use your replay immediately.

If you’re wondering what all the arrows and boxes next to names mean… well, similar to WhatsApp, they indicate if you’ve sent a Snap that has been read or unread. Go here to discover what all the different arrow icons and box icons mean. It gets sort of complicated.

Making a story

To make a story, which is basically a snap that exists for 24 hours and can be broadcasted to all your followers, tap the story icon from the Camera screen. It’s right next to the download icon. If you send a story, your followers will be able to view it an unlimited number of times in one day. You will see who has viewed your story too.

Another way to send a story is by simply taking a snap and tapping the send icon. But instead of selecting every friend individually on the send-to screen, you can simply select the My Story option.

You can change who is able to view your stories under settings.

Viewing a story

You can view stories by tapping the story icon on the Camera screen.

You will then see a Stories screen, with a list of your contacts and maybe even recents if you have unread stories. Once you view all the stories under recents, the recents category will disappear. You can still find read stories however by scrolling to the bottom of your contact list on this screen.

Anybody with a little cartoon symbol next to their name is an official, verified person on Snapchat. Actor Jared Leto (jaredleto), for instance, has a cactus next to his name. DJ Calvin Harris has a tiger, and so forth. Go here to learn more about how verified accounts on Snapchat work.

Go here to learn more about how verified accounts on Snapchat work.

Accessing Discover

From Story screen. you can also view Discover content, which is original programming from publishers. Just tap on any of the the publishers, such as Comedy Central, to launch their channel and a stream of content they’ve chosen to broadcast exclusively via Snapchat. You can also swipe from right to left on the Story screen to access more Discover content.

Viewing Scores

To view your score, swipe down from the camera screen. Your score will appear under your Snapcode. You can view friends’ total scores by tapping on their name in your contacts.

Chatting with a friend

Apart from sending snaps and stories, you can message with a friend.

To access the Chat screen, swipe from left to right on the camera screen. To message a friend, go to your contact list, then tap on the friend’s name, and select the chat icon. If you’ve already started messaging someone, they’re name will appear in your recent’s list on the chat screen. Swipe from left on their name to start chatting again.

While in a chat box, you will see various options. There should be a picture button that lets you send photos or videos from your camera roll. There’s also a phone call button, a capture button, a video record button, and a button for sending emoji and stickers.

Placing a call

Press the video camera button in any chat box with a friend to start a live video call, or press the phone call button to place an audio-only call. If your friend is available when you try video call, they can choose to ‘Watch’ or ‘Join’. If your friend chooses to ‘Watch’ you will be unable to see them but they can hear you, see you, and send you chats. If your friend chooses to ‘Join’ you will be able to see and hear each other.

Sending money

Snapchat partnered with Square to launch Snapcash in 2014.

It lets you use your debit card to pay for goods or simply send money to friends. It works like this: enter your debit card under settings, then go to any chat box with a friend, and type a dollar sign along with an amount (like $11.50). Once you’re done, hit the green send button.

Your card details are securely stored by Square, a mobile payments company co-founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey. So you don’t need to worry about a hacking scandal that will result in you losing money. Snapcash via Square is available to all snapchatters in the US. They just have to be 18 years or older.

Applying a lens

When you’re using the Camera screen, press and hold on your face to activate a feature called Lenses. It includes facial recognition software that’s able to distort your expression and apply various effects to your face. Once you active it, a spiderweb-thing covers your face.

You’ll then see lens options appear next to the shutter icon. Select one and follow the instructions. Also, you can swipe to the left to change the lens.

Go here to learn more about lenses.

Saving to Memories

Since launch, Snapchat has added several features that allow you to either screenshot or save snaps (you can even broadcast them to your “story”, allowing your followers to view them an unlimited amount of times in a 24-hour period), with the latest example being Memories.

Memories not only gives you another way to keep snaps but also introduces a new section. You can access this Memories section to search for saved snaps and much more. For instance, when you take a snap, you will see an option to save your snap to Memories (it’s like a camera roll or collection), where you can organise, edit, search, lock, and share snaps after they’re taken.

In the past, you’ve been able to save your snaps and stories to your phone’s local camera roll, but now, you can save them to Snapchat’s servers too. Memories lives below the camera view. Just swipe up from the camera view to open it.

On the Memories screen, you will see a search button in the top corner, followed by a menu bar that consists of several tabs: All (shows all your saved photos and videos), Snaps (shows just your snaps), Stories (shows just your stories), Camera Roll (shows your phone’s complete camera roll), My Eyes Only (shows your locked memories).

From any of these tabs, tap and hold a snap to enable new interactions, such as editing, adding geofilters and timestamps, sharing to your current story, creating a new story by selecting multiple snaps, sending snaps to friends as a message attachment, and exporting.

Go here to learn more about how to use Moments.

Using Bitmoji

If you and a friend have both set up Bitmoji in Snapchat, you’ll see “friendmojis” that include both of you when you send them a Chat or reply to their Snap. To link Bitmoji with your Snapchat account, make sure you’ve downloaded the latest versions of both Snapchat and the Bitmoji app. 

Go here to learn more about Bitmoji in Snapchat.

What are Snapchat Spectacles?

In October 2016, Snapchat announced a pair of connected sunglasses called Snapchat Spectacles. They can record video snippets that automatically save to your Snapchat Memories, a new feature in Snapchat that stores all your saved snaps, stories, and locked content. The sunglasses feature a camera with a 115-degree lens, with the purpose of mimicking how humans actually see.

The glasses cost $129.99 (roughly £100), come in one size, and will be available in three colours: black, teal, and coral.

Go here to learn more about Snapchat Spectacles.

Want to know more?

Check out Pocket-lint’s Snapchat tips and tricks piece.

Nissan teases self-driving features for the next-gen Leaf

The next generation Leaf EV will be the first with ProPilot driver assist in North American and Europe, and Nissan has just showed how that will look. Activated by a button on the steering wheel, it can control steering, braking and acceleration, but only in a single freeway lane. The driver can see exactly what’s going on with the aid of a fancy animation front and center in the largely digital dashboard.

Automakers’ self-driving systems will always be compared to Tesla, whose Autopilot is the most advanced available commercially. In Nissan’s case, the ProPilot will help with boring highway cruising, but is a far cry from the semi-automatic Autopilot. Tesla’s system can change lanes, match traffic speeds, automatically exit a freeway, self-park when near a parking spot and do canny emergency braking. .

However, we’ve ridden along with Nissan while it tests a future version of the ProPilot, and seen the potential for autonomous city driving. Nissan wrote that it “will offer increasing levels of autonomy, with the system eventually able to navigate city intersections” and more in the coming years. It didn’t say whether Leafs would automatically be updated to get new self-driving features, like Teslas do.

Either way, the demo is a good sign that the EV is on track. Nissan is supposed to show off the production model in September, with shipping starting by the end of the year. It’s expected to have a 60 kilowatt battery that’s good for a 200 mile range, double what the current model can do.

Source: Nissan

Code ‘recipes’ from IFTTT help you stay on top of government news

It’s not exactly hard to find publicly available government info and new announcements online. A bunch of new IFTTT recipes (now officially called applets) can make sure you never miss them when they become available, though. The platform has revealed its first group of applets under a new initiative called Data Access Project, and they cover health and travel alerts, the latest news in cybersecurity, economy and other areas. IFTTT recipes follow the “if this happens, then do that” formula — for instance, you can whip up a recipe to send yourself a text whenever Engadget posts on Twitter. That’s also how the Data Access Project applets work.

As you can see in the images above, you can choose to get an email every time a certain government agency announces a new scientific discovery. You can tell IFTTT to make new Evernote updates, push Slack notifications or create Trello cards whenever certain departments makes an announcement, so and so forth. Even if you have no idea how to make IFTTT recipes, you can subscribe to all the Data Access Project Applets by making an account on the platform’s website. If you do know how to make applets, though, you can go wild conjuring up formulas that put your connected devices, such as Philips’ Hue lights, to good use.

IFTTT chief Linden Tibbets said in a statement:

“It’s not that the information isn’t out there — companies, governments, and institutions are releasing information all the time. But for the average person, it’s overwhelming.

We’ve built out services whose data impacts people in very real ways: governments, agencies, non-profits, transits, and other institutions. Now people can easily find, and use, that information in brand new ways. We’re excited to see the response, and plan to expand the Data Access Project with more services in the near future.”

Source: IFTTT

Virgin Media: Change your Super Hub 2 password or risk being hacked

Typically, internet routers are designed to protect you and your devices from malicious third parties. But when many come with a default username and password, they can leave owners open to attack. That’s the message consumer website Which? is pushing today, after it found that Virgin Media’s Super Hub 2 routers can be hacked if users don’t change the original credentials (normally printed on the back). Virgin Media says the risk is “small” but is urging over 800,000 customers to change the details to protect themselves.

The investigation focused on the security of various popular smart home gadgets. Which? created its own smart home and asked ethical security company SureCloud to go to town. As well as targeting the gadgets, researchers used freely available tools to probe the router and obtained its original password within a couple of days. As the Super Hub 2’s administrator pages also ship with a common username and password, SureCloud was able to obtain complete access to the target network.

Virgin Media says that the issue isn’t unique to the company’s routers and affects other hubs that are around the same age. A Virgin Media spokesperson said: “The security of our network and of our customers is of paramount importance to us. We continually upgrade our systems and equipment to ensure that we meet all current industry standards.

“To the extent that technology allows this to be done, we regularly support our customers through advice, firmware and software updates, and offer them the chance to upgrade to a Hub 3.0 which contains additional security provisions.”

Currently, there are around 864,000 Super Hub 2 routers in UK homes, although that number is falling as Virgin Media upgrades customers to the Super Hub 3. The newer router utilises 12 character passwords, which are a mix of cases and numbers.

The default Hub 2 offers 8 characters from a standard lowercase A-Z alphabet. Where it took a couple of days to crack the Super Hub 2 password, Which? says doing the same on the current model would take over 250 million years.

Source: Which?

Apple Promotes Music Single to Help Support Victims of London Grenfell Tower Tragedy

Apple is asking visitors to its U.K. site to consider making a donation to help those affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London by purchasing the iTunes single “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, which went straight to the top of the U.K. charts just two hours after it was released on Wednesday.

Artists for Grenfell represents more than 50 musicians including Craig David, Liam Payne, and Stormzy, who recorded the cover of the Simon & Garfunkel classic to support victims’ families and survivors of the fire. Residents and survivors of the London tower block also feature as part of a choir led by Gareth Malone.

Download this moving cover of the Simon & Garkunkel classic (featuring Stormzy, Rita Ora, Liam Payne, Jorja Smith and many more) to support those affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy. And if you’d like to donate further to the Artists for Grenfell and London Community Foundation appeal, please visit http://smarturl.it/AFGDonate.

At least £0.76 for each download of the song featured on this page will go to The London Community Foundation (a charity registered in England No. 1091263).

Combustible cladding is believed to have been responsible for the rapid spread of the fire at Grenfell Tower last week, which left at least 79 people dead or missing. The government has been heavily criticized for its response in the immediate aftermath, and has pledged to house the Grenfell Tower fire survivors as quickly as possible.

The charity track achieved 120,000 downloads and streaming equivalent sales on Wednesday, which is the biggest opening day figure for a U.K. single this decade. You can download “Bridge Over Troubled Water” on iTunes here. The track is also available to stream on Apple Music.

Tags: iTunes, United Kingdom
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Sling TV Update Brings Cloud DVR Service to iPhone and iPad

Online streaming television service Sling TV has made its cloud DVR feature available on iOS for the first time. The latest version of the Sling TV app for iPhone and iPad includes the ability to record shows and movies on the majority of available channels. The feature made its way onto Apple TV in April.

The service’s DVR “First Look” option costs an extra $5 per month on top of a regular Sling TV subscription and gets users 50 hours of cloud storage. Once that space has been filled, older recordings are automatically deleted to make way for new ones.

When a user opts to record an episode of a TV series, they can set the app to record new episodes as well or only the chosen one. Alternatively, they can download entire series, while specific recordings can be protected so they don’t get automatically deleted.

Channels excluded from the DVR recording feature are the following: ABC, Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney JR, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN 3, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Goal Line, ESPN Buzzer Beater, ESPN Bases Loaded, Freeform, and the SEC Network.

The latest version of Sling TV includes the new DVR service for those with the “First Look” subscription. The app is available to download for free on the App Store. [Direct Link] The service is only available within the U.S.

Tag: Sling TV
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