Google News Redesign Extends to Google News & Weather App
Google has updated its News & Weather app to bring it in line with the company’s recent changes to its News website, splicing up categories to make them more focused and integrating additional navigation controls into the user interface.
First up, Google has injected more blank space into the News & Weather UI to enhance readability, and has made the headline news categories along the top of the layout more easily accessible with swipe gestures.
Like the Google News website, the app also now includes an always-visible navigation bar for separate “Headlines”, “Local”, and “For You” sections.
In Local, users can track stories from parts of the world that interest them, either by turning on location services to see news about their current location, or by manually adding a location from the relevant menu in the sidebar.
Meanwhile, in the For You section, users can input niche interests or create their own mini news feed, such as following a favorite team or tech topic, for example. Displayed topics can also be rated with the thumbs up/down icons for more personalized curation.
Google has also removed the Weekly Digest section of the app, because of low usage in earlier versions. Elsewhere, the dark reading mode and all other Google account options remain in the top left Settings menu.
The Google News & Weather app is a free download for iPhone and iPad on the App Store. [Direct Link]
Tag: Google
Discuss this article in our forums
Twitter Adds Extra Filtering Options to Mute Abusive Accounts
Twitter has introduced additional new tools in its account notification settings to help users further reduce the likelihood of receiving offensive replies or seeing abusive account names.
The new social network tools include options to mute notifications from accounts that have just been registered, as well as accounts you don’t follow, and accounts that don’t follow you.
All of the settings can be toggled in the Advanced Filters menu, accessed by tapping the cog at the top left of the Notifications screen, or by tapping your user profile picture and selecting Settings and privacy -> Notifications -> Advanced filters.
Now you have even more control over your notifications. Mute accounts that don’t follow you, new accounts, and more. https://t.co/UapP6DtTtY pic.twitter.com/RcBQGx219k
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) July 10, 2017
The expanded filtering tools follow on from filters the social media company introduced in March that let users more easily weed out abuse, such as hiding messages from accounts without a profile photo, linked email address, or phone number. The company also recently modified its Messages section to separate out DMs from people you don’t follow, making it easier to accept or delete them.
Twitter has denied a report that claimed it was testing a feature that would let users flag tweets that contain misleading, false, or harmful information. The feature was said to be in the prototype phase and part of the company’s strategy to prevent abuse of its platform.
Tag: Twitter
Discuss this article in our forums
Prime members can grab third-gen Philips Hue bulbs for just £22 each
Add some color to the home with Philips Hue. Prime Day brings massive discounts to both starter kits and individual bulbs.
Whether you’re thinking about adding some smart lighting to the home or need to pick up a new bulb or two to add to an already existing Philips Hue setup, Amazon UK has some enticing deals for you to gander at. Starter kits start from £89.99, which bags you a bridge and some bulbs, and individual bulbs can be picked up from just £22.49.
Here’s a list of Philips Hue bulbs and packs available as part of Prime Day in the UK:
- Philips Hue E27 Starter Kit – £89.99 (38% off)
- Philips Hue B22 Cap Starter Kit – £89.99 (35% off)
- Philips Hue E27 LED bulb – £22.49 (55% off)
- Philips Hue GU10 twin pack – £26.99 (40% off)
- Philips Hue B22 bulb – £22.49 (54% off)
For more deals, be sure to check out the Prime Day landing page!
If you need storage, Amazon has a bunch of Seagate hard drives on sale for Prime Day
Amazon has a whole bunch of Seagate hard drives on sale for Prime Day, including internal and external drives. A particularly good deal is the Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB on sale for $60. This is the all-time lowest price on this hard drive. Since early June it has sold around $77 and before that was selling around $70. Either way, the $60 price tag is worth a look.
The Seagate Backup Plus Slim is a well-reviewed hard drive. It has 4 stars from CNET and PC Mag and is considered The Wirecutter’s best portable hard drive.
It’s powered solely through the USB and uses USB 3.0 for the fastest speeds. Several models and colors are on sale, including the much larger and less portable Seagate Backup Plus 8TB desktop hard drive. I’m partial to the Xbox Green one myself.
See at Amazon
All-you-can-play indie gaming is coming for $10 per month
While Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass likely appeals to players who want mainstream console titles, there hasn’t been a great unlimited play platform for indie games — until now. A new service, Jump, has just emerged from the ether to satisfy fans of non-tentpole gaming. For $10 a month, users can play any of the service’s 60-plus game initial catalogue, with ten more coming each month for desktop and VR platforms. Jump’s beta period is running from now til July 24th with a limited game selection, but once the full service launches this summer, anyone can sign up for a 14-day free trial.
Roguelike dungeon crawlers, platformers, 8-bit narrative puzzlers, turn-based strategy. We’ve got ’em! https://t.co/BJn8GpD2LV #indiegames pic.twitter.com/xvOGW44GtN
— Jump (@PlayOnJump) July 10, 2017
And yes, you’ll be able to play new games on-demand. Jump uses web-based technology that launches games from the platform’s client, allowing them to run locally without fully installing by loading only the assets it needs on the fly. With a browsing window, curated collection and algorithms recommending titles to players based on taste, the comparisons to Netflix are inevitable.
Over 4000 games were released on Steam last year, representing 40 percent of the total games ever released on the digital marketplace. Those odds are harrowing for small-staffed indie game developers, so the promise of a highly-curated library might be enough to sway them into joining Jump, where players can sample games at will instead of balking at sticker prices.
Developers might even make more money than on Steam, as they’ll get a clearly-defined cut of profits. Jump will take 70 percent of the net revenue of subscription income and divvy it up to developers based on the amount of time their game is played, the company’s chief Anthony Palma told Gamasutra. That amounts to abut 25 to 50 cents per hour of play, per user.
And since the platform is leaning heavily on curation — Palma insisted that only 10-12 games will be added per month at the start, despite the pressure and expectation that streaming services rapidly expand catalogues — games won’t be buried among a hundred other simultaneously-added titles. That means titles will be far more discoverable on Jump than Steam…and you’ll finally be able to sample a service’s whole range of games, not just the most popular that rise to the top.
Source: IGN
Tech Hunters: Bringing the Tamagotchi back to life
These days, Pokémon has the cute creature-based game market all sewn up, but back in the 90s it was a completely different affair. Phones still had some way to go towards being anywhere near smart, so it was up to tiny pocket devices like the Tamagotchi to keep little ones entertained.
The Tamagotchi — a portmanteau of the Japanese words for egg (tamago) and friend (tomodachi) — was created by Bandai employee Aki Maita and formally introduced by the company back in 1996. The toy required kids (of all ages) to care for a virtual pet, allowing them to experience the responsibility of feeding, cleaning and maintaining the health of their cute digital companion. They pooped and they died when you forgot to feed them, but you were always safe in the knowledge that you could always start again.
After huge success in Japan, the Tamagotchi went on to be sold in over 30 countries, shifting more than 76 million units. The brand grew to include books, clothing, movies, TV shows and a Nintendo video game, eclipsing the Beanie Baby fad at the time.
Because the virtual pets came in dozens of different shells, collectors scour the globe and online marketplaces for the rarest models. Julia Hardy met with one superfan, Natalie, to find out more about the keychain craze and why the Tamagotchi is still so loved.
Tech Hunters is a 10-part video series that uncovers the devices we were once obsessed with, looking at how they disrupted the tech industry, and what they’re worth today. From the pocket pet obsession with the original Tamagotchi, to mix-tapes and Sony Walkman, Tech Hunters explores the audio, visual, interactive and transport innovations that have shaped today’s culture.
Audi introduces its semi-autonomous A8
After a sneak peak of the vehicle parking itself and appearing in Spider-Man: Homecoming, the Audi A8 luxury sedan is finally being shown off in all its high-tech glory. With level 3 autonomy, active electronic suspension, a mild hybrid engine and brand new infotainment system, it’s the future of the German automaker’s vehicles.
At the forefront is the car’s level-3 autonomous features. “It embodies our heritage as well as our future,” said Audi board member Dr Dietmar Voggenreiter. The Audi AI Traffic Jam Pilot will move the car along autonomously while stuck in gridlock both on the highway and without input from the driver.
The semi-autonomous system is powered by the newly-branded Audi AI system that will soon be added to all new vehicles from the automaker. It also announced Vorsprung, which Audi board member Rupert Stadler said means the company is, “walking the extra mile and staying ahead of others, trying to develop the most convenient solutions to our auto woes.
Audi says the conceptual car from the movie iRobot is realized — at least the autonomous part — with the new A8. Will Smith would be proud. No word on if the A8 is capable of battling renegade automatons.
The system rides on the automaker’s 48-volt active electromechanical suspension platform. With its front-facing camera, Audi says is scans the road ahead 18 times a second to actively predict with the electronic chassis platform (ECP) and primes how the suspension should handle the situation. In conjunction with air suspension, the system should produce a smoother ride as each tire is controlled by its own electric motor that’s adjusted on the fly for potholes, corners or hard stops.
The new suspension is coupled with Audi’s new all-wheel steering system. Audi says it’ll improve stability while giving the A8 a sporty feel and smaller turning radius than the A4.
The new A8 will also have the mild-hybrid drive vehicle (MHEV) drivetrain. It combines a alternator connected to the crankshaft that’s powered by a lithium-ion battery which allows the vehicle to coast at speeds between 34 and 99 miles per hour for 40 seconds with the engine firing. So it’s not a hybrid like the Prius or Audi’s on e-tron plug-in hybrid.
A new infotainment system was also on display in the new vehicle. This is Audi’s latest generation of its MMI dash with haptic feedback and multiple displays. And of course it wouldn’t be a luxury sedan without some over-the-top features like a foot massager for the back seat. No word on when the new 2019 A8 is expected to go on sale.
BlackBerry’s stronger, more resilient KEYone units are here
BlackBerry Mobile promised it would make things right, and it has done just that.
In early June, a prominent YouTuber broke — nay, destroyed — a KEYone, and BlackBerry Mobile was forced to defend its new baby, a phone that had, until that point, been largely without controversy. The company promised it would make things right, and it has done just that.
It claimed that only a small number of people were experiencing issues with the KEYone’s display detaching from its body like a chocolate bar, but nonetheless it was taking action to reinforce the component using additional adhesives.
Now, the company says that work is complete and better, stronger KEYones are rolling off the manufacturing lines and onto shelves. From the CrackBerry forums:
In a further effort to ensure all our BlackBerry Mobile customers and fans have an outstanding experience, we’re implementing additional measures that add even greater strength and adhesive to the BlackBerry KEYone display. These new measures are already being implemented on new KEYone’s and are beginning to hit our retailer and carrier inventories – and will continue to come in stock throughout the summer. If you’ve already purchased the BlackBerry KEYone, you’re fully covered by our manufacturer’s warranty, so if any issue arises, please contact us and we can help you with a warranty replacement if needed.
The last sentence is also worth noting, because the company is not proactively replacing functioning KEYones but is merely saying that, should damage to the screen occur, it is covered under warranty.
Top 8 things to love about the BlackBerry KEYone
BlackBerry KEYone
- BlackBerry KEYone review
- KEYone vs. Priv: Battle of the BlackBerry keyboards
- BlackBerry KEYone specs
- The latest KEYone news
- Join the discussion in the forums
Amazon
Best Buy
BlackBerry Mobile
LG Q6 matches big FullVision displays to midrange phones
We loved LG’s G6 and its 18:9 aspect ratio FullVision screen, and now the company will offer that setup in several smaller, lower-priced phones. While the G6+ takes care of the high-end with more storage and premium sound, the Q6+, Q6 and Q6α are aimed squarely at midrange buyers. Instead of the G6’s Snapdragon 821 CPU and a 5.7-inch display, all three feature last year’s Snapdragon 435 chip and 5.5-inch 2,160 x 1,080 displays.
Where each individual model differs is in the memory setup available:
Q6+: 4GB RAM / 64GB ROM
Q6: 3GB RAM / 32GB ROM
Q6α: 2GB RAM / 16GB ROM
The (unspecified) price of each version will slide to match its capacity, but otherwise, the features are the same, and most importantly so are its sleek looks with that bezel-less front. They’re all built on an aluminum frame, with the G6’s new facial recognition feature, as well as a 100-degree wide angle front facing camera for selfies, with a 13MP rear camera and 3,000mAh battery. All three will go on sale next month in Asia, before launching in the rest of the world (including North America) later.
Key Specifications: *
Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 435 Mobile Platform
Display: 5.5-inch 18:9 FHD+ FullVision Display (2160 x 1080 / 442ppi)
Memory:
Q6+: 4GB RAM / 64GB ROM
Q6: 3GB RAM / 32GB ROM
Q6α: 2GB RAM / 16GB ROMCamera: Rear 13MP Standard Angle / Front 5MP Wide Angle
Battery: 3,000mAh (embedded)
Operating System: Android 7.1.1 Nougat
Size: 142.5 x 69.3 x 8.1mm
Weight: 149g
Network: LTE / 3G / 2G
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g, n / Bluetooth 4.2 / NFC / USB Type-B 2.0
Colors:
Q6+: Astro Black / Ice Platinum / Marine Blue
Q6: Astro Black / Ice Platinum / Mystic White / Terra Gold
Q6α: Astro Black / Ice Platinum / Terra GoldOther: Face Recognition / Google Assistant / Square Camera / Steady Record / FM Radio
Source: LG
EFF rates the companies that stand up to government data requests
If you’re wondering which tech company will protect you in the face of a government request, you may want to check this out. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has released this year’s “Who Has Your Back” report, which grades tech giants and some smaller companies based on how they handle government requests for data. Nine companies got perfect scores: Adobe, Credo Mobile, Dropbox, Lyft, Pinterest, Sonic (ISP), Uber, Wickr (a software maker) and WordPress.
All nine got stars in five categories (we simplified the EFF’s description below):
1. Follows Industry-Wide Best Practices. They regularly publish transparency reports and have a publicly available policy on how they tackle requests from the government.
2. Tells Users About Government Data Requests. They notify individuals that the government is asking for their info before turning it over.
3. Promises Not to Sell Out Users. They full describe data disclosures to the government and ensure third-party vendors are doing the same.
4. Stands Up to NSL Gag Orders. They promise to have a judge review every national security letter (NSL), otherwise known as a administrative subpoena, gag order they get.
5. Pro-User Public Policy: Reform 702. They support reforming Section 702 under the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to tone down the collection of information on innocent people.
So, how did the biggest tech titans do, seeing as they didn’t get perfect marks? Apple only got four stars, but the EFF has praised the iPhonemaker for committing to have a judge review every NSL gag order the government sends its way. Google, Facebook and Microsoft haven’t made the same commitment yet, failing to get a star for that category, but successfully earning one for everything else. Amazon and WhatsApp unfortunately did very poorly, only earning stars for following best practices and supporting Section 702’s reform.
However, the e-commerce giant still did better than the telecom companies in the list. AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile, Verizon all got one star for following best practices, flunking all the other four categories…which didn’t really surprise the EFF:
“When it comes to adopting policies that prioritize user privacy over facilitating government data demands, the telecom industry for the most part has erred on the side of prioritizing government requests.
But telecommunications companies can do better. For example, Credo Mobile has repeatedly proven that telecom companies can adopt policies that earn credit in every category year after year. Similarly, Sonic, an ISP competitor to AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile, and Verizon, has now earned credit in every category of EFF’s annual report for five years.”
To read the EFF’s in-depth review of which tech corporation truly has your back, head over the organization’s website.
Source: EFF
AIVAnet 