It’s 2018, and Spotify still doesn’t let you edit playlists on Android or the web

Playlists are where a music-lover can let their passion shine.

Whether you think your playlist-curation skills can beat Spotify’s mathematical magic, or you just want your songs in the perfect order for your party or workout, being able to make your playlists just the way you want them is important to any music service. Spotify’s spotlight on playlists makes them doubly important, so why are playlists still hobbled on Android and web?

If you want to create a new playlist on Android, it’s fairly straightforward. You can either make a new playlist from the Playlists section of Your Library or you can create one when you try to add the first song. You can name your playlist and you can add or remove songs, but if you want to move songs up or down the list, you’ll have to remove every song between when the song was added to the playlist and where you want it to go. On the web, you have the added limitation of not being able to even rename a playlist.

If you want to edit the position of songs within your playlists, you have to switch to Spotify on iOS or the desktop Spotify app for Windows and macOS. In 2018, if you want to re-order the top tracks of a playlist on a major music service, you can completely re-create it from scratch, or you can go back to a desktop app. In 2018.

Let that sink in a moment.

Considering the default play mode suggested on every album, station, and playlist is Shuffle Play, this may not mean too much to the casual user, but it is indicative of Spotify’s attitude towards its Android app — and its Android users. The Spotify iOS app has always had it, Android users have been begging for it for four years and Spotify has said it’s still not coming anytime soon. Forget about getting the latest and greatest features, Spotify won’t even give Android users basic, legacy utilities.

If you’re committed to Spotify with a robust library and years of listening history to base your listening suggestions on, then this probably seems like much ado about nothing. Shuffle Play is good enough for most users, after all. But if you’re picky about your playlists, consider that re-ordering playlists on Google Play Music, Apple Music and just about every other music service on the market today is as easy as dragging and dropping.

And even after four years, Spotify still can’t figure it out? Really?

Ben Heck’s Alexa-powered workbench, part 2

Bob and Ben are back to automate their workbench, with the help of Raspberry Pi and Amazon’s Alexa. The idea, ultimately, is to help you to work hands free using only your voice, whether that means taking readings from a multimeter or controlling and taking screenshots from an Oscilloscope. Using the Python programming language, Ben and Bob can also control the Raspberry Pi GPIO to turn bits on and and off, and even experiment with controlling power outlets. What else would you think about automating? Let us know over on the element14 Community.

Hyundai’s self-driving fuel cell cars complete a record highway trip

Future self-driving cars don’t have to be pure electric vehicles, and Hyundai is determined to prove it. The automaker just had a five-strong fleet of Level 4 autonomous hydrogen fuel cars drive themselves 118 miles from Seoul to the Winter Olympics’ home venue of Pyeongchang. That’s the longest any self-driving vehicle has traveled at highway speeds (around 62-68MPH), the company claimed. Previously, they had to putt around at slower speeds, and frequently on limited road sections.

Three of the cars were shiny new Nexo SUVs (such as the one above), while the other two were more familiar Genesis G80 sedans. They were also showcases for cellular tech, with 5G inside for backseat smart home control, chat bots, streaming media and video calls with health consultants.

Is this a publicity stunt? You bet — Hyundai doesn’t expect to commercialize Level 4 cars until 2021, with fully autonomous models arriving by 2030. Most of those will likely be pure EVs, too. And when 5G networks are just getting started, we wouldn’t expect in-car gigabit data for a long while. Still, this helps demonstrate that driverless cars aren’t limited to short city jaunts.

Source: PR Newswire

Mercedes and Bosch will test self-driving taxis in a few months

Mercedes (or rather, its parent Daimler) and Bosch aren’t far off from making their self-driving taxis a practical reality… in a manner of speaking. Bosch chief Volkmar Denner has informed Automobilwoche that the two companies will put test vehicles on the road within a few months. He didn’t supply other details, but the mention provided a more definitive timetable for their ambitions. Until now, the two had only promised to have fully autonomous vehicles ready by the start of the next decade.

The news suggests the two are acting on their promises to make up for lost time. In a sense, they don’t have much choice. When BMW plans to sell self-driving cars in 2021 and Waymo is already ordering thousands of Chrysler vans, Daimler doesn’t have the luxury of taking things slowly — it either steps up its game or risks missing out.

Daimler is mainly betting on the purpose-built nature of its taxis as an advantage. The taxis won’t just amount to a “technology-kit mounted on a serial vehicle,” according to Daimler VP Wilko Stark — they’ve been design as autonomous rides “from the beginning.” That could give them an edge if their ergonomics and performance are better than retrofitted conventional cars. The question is whether or not it’ll matter. If other companies establish enough of a footprint for self-driving taxis before the Mercedes offerings are ready, superior tech might not be enough.

Via: Reuters

Source: Automobilwoche (sub. required)

How to use Windows Timeline

In the last two major Windows 10 revisions, Creators Update and Fall Creators Update, Microsoft focused on the needs of creative professionals. In its next major, as-yet-unnamed, update, Microsoft appears to be aimed at meeting the more general productivity needs of its users. One new productivity feature, available in the latest Windows 10 Insider builds, is Timeline, a way to pick up on previous tasks days or even weeks later.

Timeline resides where the Task View was once located, which in the shipping version of Windows 10 is where you’ll find currently running tasks along with access to multiple desktops. With Timeline, you still manage your current tasks and desktops as before, but now you can also access previous tasks up to 30 days later — including those on other PCs that have received the Timeline feature. Eventually, you’ll also be able to access tasks from your connected smartphones as well.

In this guide, we show you how to use Windows 10 Timeline as it exists in the latest Windows Insider build (currently build 17083). Once you’ve installed the latest build, then Timeline will be available and after a short delay it will start populating with activities.

Step 1: Install the latest version of Windows 10 Insider

You can skip ahead to Step 2 if you already have it, but If you’re not already a Windows 10 Insider you’ll want to head over to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program and hit the “Get started” button. Follow the instructions to add your PC to the Fast ring, and then reboot. After a delay that can last up to 24 hours, hitting the “Check for updates” button in the Windows Update page in the Settings app will kick off the installation of the latest Insider build.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

If you’re already a Windows Insider on the Fast Ring, then you simply need to head to Windows Update and you should see the latest build. As a reminder, only the PCs that are running the latest Insider builds will see the Timeline feature, which will remain true until the next Windows 10 update is released, likely in March 2018.

You can find out more about the Windows Insider program here. There are some caveats to joining the program, of course, including the potential for some pretty serious bugs that can render a PC unbootable and the ever-present risk of data loss that comes with any beta testing software versions. Note that the Insider program has a few different levels that you can access, including the Slow and Fast rings, which provide later or earlier access to builds, respectively. If you’re particularly anxious to see the latest features, you can even “Skip Ahead” to versions that include features that won’t show up until after the next major public release of Windows 10.

Step 2: Make sure Timeline is turned on

There’s very little that you need to do in order to use Timeline, and in fact it’s turned on by default. You do need to tell Windows 10 to include a machine’s activities on Timeline, however, and that’s easy enough. Just open the Settings app and navigate to Privacy > Activity history.

Digital Trends/Mark Coppock

Once there, you can toggle on and off the “Show activities from these accounts” option for each of your Microsoft accounts that are configured on that PC, and check or uncheck whether to include tasks on the local timeline and to sync them with other PCs via the cloud.

Note that you can click on the “Manage my activity info for all accounts in the cloud” link to open Microsoft privacy web page. There, you can manage all kinds of privacy information, including which tasks should be store in the cloud.

Step 3: Use Timeline

Using Timeline is a simple matter of clicking on the new Timeline icon next to the bar. There, you’ll see your current activities in large snapshots across the top rows and then your previous activities in smaller snapshots below.

You can scroll up and down to move through your Timeline or drag the selector on the right hand side, and you can click on “See all” to open up the view and see all of a day’s activities by the hour. You can click on “See only top activities” to condense the view.

Digital Trends/Mark Coppock

If you have another PC that’s sending its activity to the Timeline cloud, then you’ll see its activities listed as well. You can tell it’s a difference system by the name that’s displayed on each activity snapshot.

Digital Trends/Mark Coppock

For now, only specific apps — primarily Microsoft first-party apps — support the timeline. Eventually, developers will be able to build in support for their apps simply by building in “high quality activity cards,” and the feature will become increasingly useful as time goes on. One example is that Google can build in support and you’ll be able to see your Chrome browsing history, whereas now it’s limited to Microsoft’s Edge browser.

To access an activity, just click on its snapshot. You can also access additional commands for current activities, such as snap and move to another desktop, by right-clicking on the activity snapshot and selecting from the pop-up menu.

Digital Trends/Mark Coppock

You can also manage earlier activities and those from other PCs by right-clicking and selecting from the pop-up menu. Options include opening the activity, removing it, and clearing all activities from that timeline.

Digital Trends/Mark Coppock

Microsoft will be adding more features into Timeline. For example, eventually the Timeline will support the new Sets feature that groups activities that you’re working on simultaneously, and that that has rolled out to a select group of Windows Insiders. And, as mentioned early, Android and iOS smartphones will also be brought along via Cortana, and you’ll be able to access your PC timeline on your smartphones as well.

For now, though, Timeline provides you with an easy way to access a month’s worth of activities, as well as to pick up where you left off on other Windows Insider PCs. You’ll need to be signed up for the latest Insider builds in order to access Timeline, but that’s a small price to pay for being ahead of the productivity game.

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Apple’s iOS 11.3 may use iCloud as a single sign-on for websites

You might not to log in to your favorite websites one at a time in the near future. The 9to5Mac team has found code in the iOS 11.3 beta hinting at a single sign-on option for the web based on your iCloud account. It’s not certain just how it would work, but you would be giving sites permission to access “personal iCloud data” (possibly your name and email address) in return for the convenience. It wouldn’t be a password manager, then — you’d be handing your Apple ID to the sites in question and avoiding much of the login process.

There’s also an element in the beta which uses the camera app to scan for a QR code and ask for your Apple ID, although there’s even less known about how that would work.

It’s not certain when this feature will be ready, assuming it survives. While it could show up in the finished version of iOS 11.3, Apple has been known to push back or cut features. AirPlay 2 was originally expected to show up in an iOS 11.2 release, but Apple pulled it and eventually moved it to 11.3. Mind you, it’s easy to see this showing up soon. The company already has a single sign-on option for Apple TV users with a similar goal: take the headaches out of logging in to all the services you use.

Source: 9to5Mac

TiVo flips ‘SkipMode’ around for Super Bowl ad fans

A few years ago TiVo rolled out SkipMode for its DVRs that would allow viewers to jump past ads (on certain prime-time programs) with the press of a button. This year, for Super Bowl LII it’s flipping the technology around with GameSkip that works favor of people who watch the game just to see all of those (incredibly expensive) advertisements. Sure, you can usually see the best ones on YouTube either before the game or immediately after they are, but for dedicated fans of everything except Eagles vs. Patriots, it could be an easy way to catch up.

Just like SkipMode, it will require users to record the game, and then wait until it ends for all the necessary information to appear. Just press play on the recording and look for the same green skip icon as always to (hopefully, this is an experiment) jump from ad-break to ad-break. Also, for home automation fans, the company said it’s rolling out IFTTT integration that can enable things like fully-automated commercial skipping.

Source: TiVo

Wipe off that wing sauce and tap into the game with the 8 best Super Bowl apps

It’s the Super Bowl — and by no means does the ritualistic event need any introduction. Before you begin to stuff yourself with nachos and wings on Sunday, or settle in to watch the game (or the ads), though, check out these apps to amplify your experience for the big game.

Super Bowl LII Fan Mobile Pass

The Fan Mobile Pass is a companion app that provides Super Bowl fans with maps, schedules, and more for Super Bowl events and the game day in Minneapolis. There’s curated content, such as photos and videos, and you can enter giveaways and sweepstakes to win prizes. Register once on your computer or mobile device, and you’ll receive your QR code, enabling you to scan into activities and events. All the up-to-date photos and videos will show up on your personalized landing page, and you’ll be able to share them on your social media.

Available on:

iOS Android

Clippit

Sporting events are all about the highlights. Those are the moments that people will be talking about and GIFing for months after the fact. Clippit is your tool for taking the most talked about moments and making them shareable. The app captures up to 30 seconds of live footage and turns it into a shareable clip that you send over social media in just a few taps.

Available on:

iOS Android

NFL Mobile

Maybe you’re stuck in a cab or at work, late for a Super Bowl party. If you’re a customer of Verizon, Charter, AT&T U-Verse, or another provider with access to the NFL Network, don’t fret, as you can always watch the game live through the NFL Mobile app. If you’re not, the app still lets you watch highlights, read stories, and follow up-to-the-minute scoring. You can also track league and team leader statistics from major categories and browse the NFL Shop store, should you want to pick up some memorabilia.

Available on:

iOS Android

Ibotta

When you’re doing your shopping before the Super Bowl, picking all the necessities to entertain fans with a hunger for snacks as strong as their hunger for football, make sure to take this shopping app with you. Not only will you earn rewards and money back when you make your purchases, but you’ll also see some special offers specifically related to the big game.

Available on:

iOS Android

Drizly

Snacks and food are important, but getting enough beer for the gang is vital. Thankfully, you don’t even have to leave your house to do it — Drizly allows you to shop for alcohol straight from your couch. The app’s database includes tons of local liquor stores in over 70 cities in North America, so as long as you’re in a relatively large city, you’re covered for alcohol during the Super Bowl.

Available on:

iOS Android

Tunity

You might be heading to a sports bar or Super Bowl party to watch the big game, but if you’re a big fan you probably want to hear the action, too — and crowded places like a bar aren’t the best for being able to hear properly. That’s where Tunity comes in. The app basically allows you to scan any TV in the area, after which you’ll be able to hear a live feed of the audio straight through your phone. Side note — the app is great for other situations, too, like the TV at the gym, watching if your roommate is asleep, and so on.

Available on:

iOS Android

Odds

Big game, big bets. There is always money on the line in the Super Bowl, on just about everything from the coin toss to the final score. Even if you don’t have money riding on the game, the insights provided for gamblers can give you an interesting look at the game. Plus you can see win probabilities, which Packers fans will tell you means nothing—even when it’s at 99 percent with 5 minutes remaining.

Available on:

iOS Android

Thuuz

When there are over 100 million people watching the same thing at the same time, you can feel like you’re being left out if you aren’t up on what’s happening. Thuuz is your loophole for catching the good moments without watching the whole game. It will alert you to the big plays and you can spend the rest of the game watching the Puppy Bowl.

Available on:

iOS Android

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These are the best Alcatel Idol 5 cases to keep your Idol looking perfect

You’ve taken the plunge and got yourself a brand new Alcatel Idol 5. Congratulations! The Idol 5 boasts a few additions that make it a little more resistant to damage than the older model, but your new phone is still far from impervious to harm from the outside world. So why not grab yourself a protective case to keep it looking as good as the day you bought it? Here is a selection of the best Alcatel Idol 5 cases available to keep your Idol looking perfect.

PopCulture Gel Case ($9)

Sometimes simple is the best choice. This case from PopCulture combines a bunch of great protective qualities into one slim case, so you won’t get that bulky feel you can get from many rugged cases. Tough and flexible TPU provides good shock-resistance and a textured surface that helps you keep a grip of your phone, while raised edges along the outside of the case mean that your screen won’t be damaged by any surfaces you place it down on. Reinforced corners give it even more shock-resistance in those vulnerable areas, and the case comes in a wide variety of colors — including an option for your own photo.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

MyFavCell Brushed Metal-Style Shock Case ($8)

If you’re after something with a little more protection, but prefer a slim profile, then take a look at this case. It’s a dual-layer case, so a soft inner layer of TPU handles shock absorption, while the outer layer of hard polycarbonate (PC) takes more direct hits. But despite that toughness, it’s still pretty slim when attached to your phone. Air-cushioned corners keep those areas safe from harm, and the understated brushed metal-style complements any look. A magnetic kickstand at the back also gives your phone more utility, and allows you to set it down at the ideal viewing angle.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

NakedShield Defender Case ($12)

Naked? Anything but! NakedShield’s Defender case is the first in the Alcatel Idol 5’s options for extreme defense. This Defender case is a dual-layer case, so an inner layer of TPU handles shocks, while the outer shield of hard PC tackles anything more direct. The TPU layer wraps around the phone, giving your fingers a soft surface to enhance grip, while the PC clips around the TPU, ensuring great protection. A kickstand on the rear allows for easy viewing angles when set down and an optional holster means you can easily clip your phone to your belt. Finally, there is a massive range of styles and looks available, including the option to have your own photo added to the rear of the case.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Evocel New Generation Case ($10)

Rugged cases come in all shapes and sizes, and that’s what Evocel is offering with this rugged holster case. It’s much the same as the NakedShield Defender case, with a dual-layer construction that uses the properties of TPU and PC to keep your device safe and sound, but offers a different, more understated style. If you’re not a fan of the extremely in-your-face approach taken by NakedShield, then you might like Evocel’s attempt at a quieter style of case. An optional holster means you can clip it to your belt, and the Evocel logo on the back conceals an extremely well-hidden kickstand as well.

Buy one now from:

Amazon Evocel

TurtleArmor Dynamic Shell Case ($10)

Another supremely defensive option, TurtleArmor‘s Dynamic Shell case follows the crowd and combines our old friends TPU and PC for the all-encompassing drop protection that you expect from a rugged case. But what does TurtleArmor do differently? Like the Evocel case, this case is much more understated, though there are a variety of options if you want something more ostentatious. The unique design of the rear kickstand can be used to stand the phone in both landscape and portrait, making it an excellent option for video calls on Google’s Duo app — and it offers great protection to boot.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

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Sprint commits to 5G coverage by 2019

On Friday, Sprint announced that it planned to roll out a mobile 5G network in the first half of 2019. This would mean that Sprint would lag behind its rivals AT&T and Verizon, as both of those mobile carriers have said they have plans to roll out 5G coverage later this year. However, this target date would be Sprint ahead of T-Mobile, which has set 2020 as its roll-out date for 5G networks.

That being said, Sprint does have one advantage over Verizon when it comes to its potential 5G networks. As of right now, Verizon is only working on fixed networks, meaning that it will only use 5G as a way to improve its wireless broadband coverage. Sprint is working on creating a mobile 5G network which would work on smartphones, however.

Sprint has said that it is working with Qualcomm on 5G technology and one South Korean company says that it already has a 5G device in the works for Sprint’s network.

In terms of pricing, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure also provided some details on the prices for its 5G networks and some customers may not be happy. Sprint is planning on raising its rates for unlimited service from $50 and $60 to about $70 and $80. This would bring it in line with the prices of its competitors.

“It’s going to be very difficult for our competitors to increase the price of unlimited,” Claure said. “But we’re going to have a lot of room to increase our price of unlimited to get to similar prices as Verizon and AT&T in the future.”

Sprint is using different technology than Verizon or AT&T when it comes to building its 5G network. Both of those companies are relying on millimeter spectrum which provides fast speed within a limited service area. Claure says that such a service isn’t practical for building a nationwide coverage network.

Sprint’s 5G plans are certainly ambitious, but it should be noted that Claure has made similar announcements in the past. In 2015, he said that within two years’ time, Sprint would have the best network in the country. Sprint’s coverage has improved over the past three years, but it still lags behind its rivals though Claure says that is due to the company underestimating how long its infrastructure improvements would take.

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