60dB brings you personalized podcasts with style

Overview:

60dB is an app that offers curated short-form audio, such as podcasts, based on your preferences and history, with a clean and simple interface and no frills.

Developer: Tiny Garage Labs

Cost: Free (in beta)

Impressions:

60dB is a podcast and internet radio app, currently in beta on Android, that allows you to aggregate and listen to your favorite podcasts and internet radio streams. It has a simple interface and no ads, which makes for an enjoyable experience when you want to listen to some podcasts.

60dB does an excellent job of working well and staying out of the way while you listen to your podcast. It has a very fast UI and podcasts load quickly and I experienced very little buffering issues. The app has Cast options, as well as sharing and download options to allow you to have full control over your podcast listening experience.

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As far as any extra features, 60dB doesn’t really have too much to offer. It has a home screen with curated content based on your preferred shows and liked topics, as well as a list of new episodes from shows you watch. 60dB is the very definition of a simple, yet effective presentation.

Conclusion:

In my time with 60dB, I really couldn’t find much wrong with it besides the lack of a killer feature to set it apart from competitors. As nice and easy to use as it is, it doesn’t make me want to stop using Google Play Music as my defacto podcast and music app. GPM does essentially everything that 60dB does, along with music streaming and holding my personal music library. However, if you’re in the market for a purely podcast app that is functional and simple, then 60dB is an excellent choice. It has everything you’d need for your podcast enjoyment and even has access to internet radio streams from many of the major players like NPR, BBC, and ESPN. Definitely a recommended app for podcast and radio listeners.

Download the 60dB beta now from the Google Play Store

Best app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time

Everyone likes apps, but sometimes the best ones are a bit expensive. Now and then, developers put paid apps on sale for free for a limited time, but you have to snatch them up while you have the chance. Here are the latest and greatest apps on sale in the iOS App Store.

These apps normally cost money and this sale lasts for a limited time only. If you go to the App Store and it says the app costs money, that means the deal has expired and you will be charged. 

HPlayer

Download and watche videos from your Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, OneDrive, Box, and other cloud drives on your iPhone even if you’re offline.

Available on:

iOS

Splashtop Personal

Use Splashtop to access your computer on the local network with best-in-class video-streaming performance. View and edit Microsoft Office and PDF files, and put your Mac in your pocket.

Available on:

iOS

ScanBee

ScanBee turns your iPhone into a portable scanner. It allows you to scan any document into a high-quality PDF file.

Available on:

iOS

Instaflash

Instaflash is your go to photo app with all the tools you need to perfect your photos instantly. Transform dark and dull shots into vibrant photos and amaze your friends and family.

Available on:

iOS

MailTime Pro

MailTime makes email as easy as text messaging. We reformat your cluttered email threads into clean chat bubbles. The app connects with an unlimited number of email accounts.

Available on:

iOS

WidgetCal

This app shows weekly or monthly view for your events and reminders, all with a beautiful layout directly in your Notification Center. Access your calendar without hassle.

Available on:

iOS

Intel issues veiled response to Qualcomm’s plans to run Windows

Why it matters to you

Two of the biggest names in the processor industry are seemingly on the verge of legal action, with Microsoft poised to take Qualcomm’s side over its former ally Intel.

Earlier this year, Qualcomm took a shot at Intel with the unveiling of its Snapdragon 835 chip, which the likes of HP, Asus, and Lenovo are already confirmed to be using in their production of Windows 10 PCs. Now, Intel has issued something of a response, stating an intention to “carefully protect” its innovations.

The dispute revolves around the x86 architecture, which is the basis of most laptop and desktop PCs on the market at present. Qualcomm will seemingly use emulation to run x86 apps on ARM-based systems, and that doesn’t seem to sit too well with Intel.

The company lays out a brief history of its continued attempts to defend its intellectual property related to x86, including legal action against the likes of AMD, Cyrix, and the Transmeta Corporation. The latter receives a particularly pointed write-up, which notes that it was the last company that attempted to produce a compatible x86 processor via emulation, before its failure led to the firm’s exit from the microprocessor business.

“Only time will tell if new attempts to emulate Intel’s x86 ISA will meet a different fate,” reads the post on the Intel website, which starts off as a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the 8086 processor, before taking a more combative turn.

It’s worth noting that Qualcomm isn’t mentioned by name anywhere in the text. It’s certainly possible that Intel is referring to its broader efforts to defend x86 from being used improperly by other entities — but given recent events, it seems likely that Qualcomm is its intended target.

That said, it remains to be seen whether Intel can follow up on its strongly worded warning. Microsoft certainly seems to be cozying up to Qualcomm in service of Windows 10 on ARM, so at this point, neither side seems ready to back down from this dispute.

Pascal GTX 1060 graphics cards at the heart of new eight-GPU mining rig

Why it matters to you

If you have reasonably deep pockets and want to hit the ground running with cryptocurrency mining, this system might be worth considering.

A bespoke motherboard design for cryptocurrency mining using eight linked Nvidia GTX 1060 graphics cards could contribute to cited problems of graphics card shortages for gamers. The graphics processor (GPU) mining system has a specially crafted motherboard, power, and cooling system designed to maximize coin mining in an efficient manner.

It’s been three years since the last time AMD and others blamed graphics card shortages on cryptocurrency miners, but that seems to be what we’re seeing again in 2017 as currencies like Ethereum surge in value. This particular system seems to be geared towards Nvidia Pascal graphics cards however, as it cites the GP106-100, the core found in the GTX 1060 Pascal card.

In the case of this system though, those cores would be built into passively cooled cards with no video outputs.

Videocardz

Apart from the eight graphics cards, the specifications for the system are relatively pedestrian sounding for the gamers and hardware enthusiasts out there. The CPU is a single Intel Celeron mobile processor, paired up with 4GB of DDR3 memory. Storage is a single 64GB mSATA solid state drive (SSD).

But little of that matters, because unlike traditional PCs, this mining system is designed to maximize the number-crunching abilities of its bundled graphics cards. With eight churning away, this system can output a respectable amount of Ethereum, ZCash or Monero currencies. Videocardz claims it’s comparable to running a system with dual GTX 1080s and a GTX 1070, though it does draw more power to do so.

To power the eight GPUs inside the mining system, this set-up offers an optional 1,600w PSU, though should typically draw around 1,000w for those looking to build their own PSU into it. To make sure everything stays relatively cool there’s a relay of nine fans: five inflow and four outflow. They’re joined by dual eight-pin power connectors for each graphics card along the length of the custom motherboard.

Videocardz

Other cited features of this GPU mining system is an easy-to-dismantle case for maintenance purposes, a sturdy enclosure that enables stacking, and solid dust control and ventilation to prevent overheating.

No word yet on how much such a system will cost, but it’s not likely to be cheap. It’s also worth bearing in mind that the resale value will likely be very poor, as the graphics cards will be worked far harder than most high-end PCs.

There’s also no word on a planned release date.

Dish Network ordered to pay a record $280M for violating do-not-call laws

Why it matters to you

If you’ve ever gotten a robocall from Dish Network, good news: Those days are over.

It is no secret that robocalls, the automated phone calls that always seem to interrupt dinner, are a growing problem in the U.S. YouMail, a developer of robocall-blocking software, said that customers received an estimated 2.4 billion robocalls per month in 2016. And this week, the Department of Justice cracked down on one of the most egregious offenders, slapping a $280 million fine on Dish Network.

On Monday, satellite television provider Dish was found guilty of coordinating calls to consumers on do-not-call lists in four states. In a ruling this week, U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough wrote that the company knew its contractors were violating do-not-call laws “and did nothing,” and that its retail sales managers “showed little concern with compliance.”

Under terms of the ruling, Dish Network is prohibited from violating do-not-call laws going forward, and must agree to a 20-year plan constricting its telemarketing. The judge wrote that she’s “convinced that at least some in Dish management do not believe that Dish really did anything wrong or harmed anyone with these millions and millions of illegal calls. The evidence supports the conclusion that the pressure needs to be maintained to keep Dish’s marketing personnel from reverting to their practice of trying to get around rules.”

About $168 million of the record fine of $280 million will to the federal government, while the four states with standing — California, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio — will pocket another $84 million. The remaining $28 million in fines will go to California, North Carolina, and Ohio, respectively, for violations of state law.

Nicole Navas Oxman, a Justice Deparment spokeswoman, told Bloomberg that the fines imposed by the judge were the “largest ever” in a robocall case.

The ruling comes eight years after the U.S. and four states filed suit against Dish Network in 2009, alleging that the company ran afoul of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Telemarketing Sales Rule by making more than 55 million illegal calls. The U.S., which characterized Dish as a “serial telemarketing violator” in court documents, initially sought $900 million in fines; states asked for more than $23 billion.

Myerscough lowered the requests following the trial’s initial phase last year.

Dish took issue with Myerscough’s ruling, contending that penalties were “unfair” compared to recent telemarketing cases settled by companies including DirecTV, Comcast Corp., and Caribbean Cruise Lines.

“Dish has taken its compliance with telemarketing laws seriously, has and will continue to maintain rigorous telemarketing compliance policies and procedures, and has topped multiple independent customer service surveys along the way,” Dish spokesperson Bob Toevs told Bloomberg.

The prosecuting parties disagree. Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler said in a statement that the case “demonstrates the Department of Justice’s commitment to smart enforcement of consumer protection laws, and sends a clear message to businesses that they must comply with the do-not-call rules.”

Patent reveals Facebook may create more emotive news feed with webcams

Why it matters to you

Adding a bit of emotive flair to your Facebook message could help ensure your thoughts are never misconstrued by your friends.

Sure, Facebook allows users to attach a feeling to any status but a recently approved patent suggests emotions could become an even bigger player through facial-recognition technology. Future versions of the platform could use cameras, keyboard movement, and touchpad gestures to track emotions, automatically inserting emojis and adjusting the font or even using emotions to analyze reactions, the patent suggests.

The set of three patents, recently uncovered by CB Insights, were submitted back in 2014 and 2015 but were only recently published publicly. All three patents detail technology designed to track the user’s emotions, but each one uses that tracking in different ways.

The first patent is designed for Facebook Messages. The idea is to aid text-only messages, which can sometimes be misconstrued without any hints of emotion or context. The technology works based on the way the user interacts with the keyboard, touchscreen or “other input devices.” Factors like how quickly the keys are pressed, how hard they are pressed and whether or not the smartphone is moving around or staying in place can offer clues as to the user’s emotions. The messaging platform then could take that data and adjust the font, the font size and other visual tools to help convey more meaning in the message.

The second patent detects emotion not from keyboard strokes, but from a smartphone’s front-facing camera or a webcam. Cameras and facial-recognition technology are able to trigger a photo with a smile — Facebook’s patent instead looks for visual emotional cues and stores that data to create a more customized newsfeed. According to the patent, the emotion data would be used to help deliver more content that users respond to as well as adding additional analytical data for publishers on what type of response their content received.

What could scare some users is that the camera doesn’t have to be “on” for the tech to work. The patent details using “passive imaging data” or information captured automatically without the user actually turning the camera on.

The third patent would use similar facial recognition technology, only instead of using the data to track your responses, this feature would find the most appropriate emoji automatically, matching your facial features to an emoji. Along with recognizing smiles, the patent suggests the technology could also recognize gestures, like a thumbs up, and translate those into emojis as well.

Patents do not always become actual products, but they do offer insight into what the company is researching. The idea of using emotion recognition technology to track responses is not a completely new idea — consider this billboard that determined each viewer’s response to the message. While most might be able to get onboard with not digging through the emoji list to find the right one, the idea of being watched while scrolling through Facebook might prompt more than a few to follow CEO Mark Zuckerberg in covering the camera with duct tape if the patent ever becomes reality.

Google reveals when on-device tech support for Pixel phones will end

Why it matters to you

If you plan to keep your Pixel for the long haul, be aware that it will become a little harder to receive support down the road.

One of the Pixel and Pixel XL’s more minor but still very noteworthy features is its on-device tech support. Google’s phones come with an app preinstalled that puts you in instant contact with a representative via a phone call or chat. For more serious issues, you’re even given the ability to share your screen with the service agent for direct guidance.

Well, evidently that support won’t last forever. Google has announced that it will retire the app in October 2019 — three years since the phone’s launch, and the same month when it will also stop issuing security updates.

It’s noteworthy to stipulate that Google says there won’t be any “guaranteed” support for these devices after that date — so if you’re still rocking the original Pixel at the tail end of 2019, you’re welcome to call them up and try your luck, but you may come away disappointed.

Although Google’s first smartphone was a runaway success with demand quickly drying up for many of the higher-capacity, more premium models, the device hasn’t been without its own share of nagging issues. A couple of the more notable ones affected the microphone and audio playback, though Google eventually fixed these with updates in recent months. In these instances, many users definitely appreciated the convenience of on-device support.

At least it won’t be a surprise to customers when support finally does end. In April, the company also posted a schedule for the termination of Android system and security updates. The OS improvements will end a year before the security fixes, keeping in line with Google’s longstanding 18-month commitment to keeping devices current.

That 18-month program could change down the line if Google one day begins producing its own processors, as representatives from the company have hinted at in the past. Right now, the limited update schedule is partially the result of Qualcomm’s stranglehold on the Android industry as its most popular chipmaker, especially of high-end devices. Should Google enter the ring, it will have the freedom to decide when it’s finally time for its products to ride off into the sunset.

Apple’s new App Store policy will cut down on annoying ratings reminders

Why it matters to you

You will soon see a drastic reduction in the number of pop-ups requests asking you to rate apps.

Ever download a solicitous iOS app that begs for positive App Store reviews? Starting this week, though, Apple is clamping down on those and other forms of reminders that have historically skirted the App Store’s terms of service.

Section 1.1.7 of the new App Store policy dictates that developers “disallow custom review prompts” going forward. In the coming weeks, all apps will be required to implement Apple’s App Store rating API.

“Use the provided API to prompt users to review your app; this functionality allows customers to provide an App Store rating and review without the inconvenience of leaving your app, and we will disallow custom review prompts,” the revised guidelines state.

The new rating API, which Apple introduced during the iOS 10.3 beta period in May, has its benefits — most notably a built-in one-to-five scale that let users quickly rate an app without having to minimize it, open the App Store, and publish a review from there. But it is not perfect — 9to5Mac points out that it imposes strict limits on how often a rating prompt can be displayed. Pop-ups can only appear three times a year, and at least one year after a user leaves a review or a new version of the app has been released.

And the rating API lets users can switch prompts altogether. Apps that use it are affected by the global iTunes notification setting, which can be toggled in Settings, then iTunes & App Store, then In-App Ratings & Reviews.

Those drawbacks may have developers shaking their heads, but Apple addressed a few of the development community’s complaints in iOS 11. Now, developers can respond to user reviews in order to offer follow-up questions or express thanks. (Users can sign up to receive email alerts that arrive if a developer responds to their review.) Beefed-up search tools make finding reviews from users in different countries easier, and new reviews now filter into the iTunes Connect dashboard where developers manage the apps they offer for download on the App Store.

Apple also changed the way reviews work. In the past, releasing an app update would reset an app’s App Store star rating — which was based on reviews for the current version of the app rather than the all-versions aggregate — back to zero. From iOS 11, developers can preserve their star ratings across updates.

Despite Apple’s best efforts, app ratings manipulation continues to dog the App Store. In 2015, images from Chinese social media network Weibo showed an employee sitting in front of a bank of iPhones, installing apps, and rating them positively — reportedly in exchange for fees ranging from $11,200 to $65,000.

Google Maps helps you find Pride Month events in 35 cities around the world

Why it matters to you

Ready to celebrate Pride? Google Maps wants to help you get there and find more information about your local events.

It’s LGBT Pride Month in many cities around the world, and you might be wondering where you can get to join in the celebrations. Well folks, Google Maps is here to help! The company has updated Google Maps on Android and iOS with Pride parade routes to help participants find where the party is and where the party is going.

The new feature will be available in 35 cities around the world, and in the cities where it’s available you’ll be able to head to Google Maps to see a rainbow route showing exactly where the parade will take place. From there, you can tap the event to show more information like the kind of traffic you’ll run into, event hours, and a description of the event.

Maps will also show Pride events that aren’t parades, and they’ll be marked with a specially designed Pride icon. You’ll also be able to tap those icons to find out more information about the corresponding events. Maps is also showing things like road closures and detours that you might need to take if you’re in the area and don’t want to join the parades and celebrations.

Google isn’t the only company getting into the Pride spirit. Facebook revealed earlier this year that it would allow users to add a Pride-themed frame to their photos.

Google has been adding some great new features to Maps of late. In fact, the company just updated Maps to now show the layouts of subway stations, a feature that should be seriously helpful for those that live in big cities with a subway. The new feature hasn’t yet come to all subway stations, but it’s likely that will change over the next few months. And, it’s likely we’ll continue to get great new features in Maps over the next few months, too.

Innovators unite! Apple is making it a lot easier to develop with HomeKit

Why it matters to you

Apple has historically been comprised of a series of closed systems, but now, it’s starting to open things up, beginning with HomeKit.

Apple has managed to build an empire by being secretive, but it looks as though the times are finally changing. At this year’s WWDC, Apple began pulling back the veil — at least, around HomeKit. First introduced three years ago in the 2014 installation of the company’s famous Worldwide Developers Conference, HomeKit has historically been a decidedly closed system. Developers interested in working with the software had to integrate a dedicated authentication chip into a device, then undergo plenty of certification testing through the MFi (“Made for iPhone/iPod/iPad”) program. But that was so three years ago.

Now, any Apple developer with interest can start playing around with HomeKit. No longer will you have to integrate an authentication chip into your prototype. Rather, the whole authorization process can be done through software. And while there won’t be a chip anymore, Apple still promises that all the heavy-duty encryption will still be present.

You also won’t have to get an MFi license anymore to control prototypes of your connected devices. And these prototypes can even be developed atop cheap, easy-to-find hardware like Raspberry Pi and Arduino. That means that there will be a lot more experimentation in the coming months, and hopefully, a lot more innovation.

But don’t get too excited too quickly. If you want to actually bring an Apple smart home device to market for real, you’ll still have to go through MFi certification. And all things considered, it’s still a lot easier for tinkerers to develop new products with Amazon or Google, as integration with those two companies’ products happens largely in the cloud. But then again, Apple has much stronger encryption, which means much more secure devices.

So pick your poison, friends. But either way, you ought to have plenty of fun creating new smart home gadgetry this year.