Google’s public WiFi hotspots come to Mexico

Google’s Station WiFi is no longer reserved for the eastern hemisphere. As of today, the public hotspots are available in over 60 “high-traffic” locations in 44 Mexican cities, including airports, malls and mass transit stations. Coverage should expand to more than 100 locations before 2018 is over. As you might guess, Google has a little help — it’s partnering with local internet provider Sitwifi to convert its existing hotspots to the Station format.

The goal remains the same: Google is hoping to make internet access (and thus people visiting Google sites) more accessible in areas where it’s not necessarily a given. Mexico has the third highest internet penetration in Latin America, the company said, but large data plans aren’t as viable as they can be elsewhere. You may be more likely to watch YouTube or download from the Play Store if you know you won’t rack up a massive phone bill.

Source: Google

PicsArt Gold brings ad-free photo edits with thousands of graphics

PicsArt

Mobile editing powerhouse app PicsArt is going gold — on  March 13, the company announced PicsArt Gold, a subscription option for expanding the otherwise free app with access to additional editing resources and an ad-free experience.

PicsArt Gold unlocks the app’s premium tools that are available using an in-app purchase of either a monthly or annual subscription. Subscribers will have access to over 3,000 stickers, 300 frames, 250 fonts, 200 backgrounds, 200 collages, and 100 masks in addition to the free options. That’s just the numbers at the start, however — PicsArt Gold users will also have access to new content delivered bi-weekly.

Downloading all the premium packs individually would cost over $2,500, PicsArt says. The Gold subscription will cost $8 a month or $47.88 for an annual subscription (equivalent to about $4 a month). PicsArt users will also have access to a free 7-day trial to explore the different perks in the paid plan.

PicsArt says that the Gold subscription is a direct result of requests from the app’s users. The free version of the app isn’t going anywhere, although it will remain ad-supported, and the app’s selection of free stickers and other tools will remain the same. The subscription creates an option for users that want access to the premium downloads without making individual purchases.

“Our mission is to be the best place to make, find and share awesome interactive content,” said Hovhannes Avoyan, PicsArt CEO and founder. “PicsArt Gold helps us do just that. Giving our community full access to unlimited premium content will lead to more amazing creations and more sharing, on and off PicsArt. Whether our users join PicsArt Gold or not, PicsArt will always remain free to use, we’ll always deliver a fantastic free experience for all PicsArt fans, around the world.”

The PicsArt Gold subscription is launching today in over 150 countries. After updating the app, users can find the subscription options in a pop-up by navigating to the Store and tapping any content.

The app already has 500 million installs and 100 million monthly active users on iOS, Android, and Windows, sharing some 850 million images each month created in the app. PicsArt contains both photo filters and graphics tools, including brushes, masks, shapes, stickers, text, and even effects powered by artificial intelligence. The company makes additional apps for illustration, animation, and video editing.

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YouTube launches Dark Theme setting for mobile devices, starting with the iOS app

YouTube introduced Dark Theme for desktop, which turns the background dark while videos are being viewed on its site, last year. Now, the company officially began rolling out the feature for mobile devices — starting with its iOS app.

YouTube developed Dark Theme specifically to cut down on glare and allow users to take in the true colors of the videos they’re watching. It’s similar to Twitter’s Night Mode, which also switches the app and web interface to darker colors that are much easier on the eyes. It was introduced in 2016 for its mobile app before being offered on desktop as well.

You’ll also be able to turn the feature on and off through your settings. Simply tap on your account icon in the upper right-hand corner, and go to Settings > Dark theme, to toggle Dark Theme on or off. Once you exit from Settings, your background will automatically become dark as you scroll through the feed of videos.

YouTube has been making changes and adding updates to both its site and app since last August. The refresh initially started with a more modern logo.

The mobile app underwent slight redesigns last year as well. The header was switched to white, while the navigation buttons were moved to the bottom of the app. Another newer feature is the ability to play back vertically filmed videos on the entire screen of a smartphone — without the black bars on either side.

Other updates from last summer include an easier user experience while watching videos. With playback controls in the form of gestures you’re able to swipe left or right to move to the next video or a previous one.

As for Dark Theme, it’s especially useful for those who prefer low-light settings. It helps to ease the strain on your eyes, since the darker colors are more gentle than the bright white to which most of us are accustomed. It could also be a nice change from what you’re normally used to seeing while on the site.

While YouTube is launching Dark Theme for iOS first, the feature will also be coming to Android soon.

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Chinese police are using facial-recognition tech to catch criminals

Greg Baker/Getty Images

Police in Beijing are reportedly testing out new smart glasses enabled with license plate and facial-recognition technology. The smart tech, which is being used at a highway checkpoint on the outskirts of the city, can not only identify individuals who are stopped but also match them with a police database of wanted suspects. When a person is flagged, the glasses show the police officers a warning sign, which prompts them to take further action.

The glasses use augmented reality technology developed by the startup LLVision. Their adoption is timed to coincide with the annual meeting of China’s parliament in central Beijing. Beyond this, it is part of a push by leaders in China to use smart technology to boost security. President Xi Jinping is particularly enthusiastic about ways to employ (and deploy) artificial intelligence, facial recognition, and big data technology to track behavior which is viewed as running counter to the interests of the ruling Communist Party.

Surveillance of citizens has been an issue of contention in various facets of life, such as the concerns about Apple recently moving Chinese iCloud user data to a cloud computing company operated by a local startup.

While some people will certainly be worried about the possibility of police using facial-recognition tech to flag individuals, however, LLVision chief executive Wu Fei told Reuters that there is no cause for concern. The reason? Because he trusts the government, and Chinese authorities are using the tech only for “noble causes.”

Interestingly, this is far from the first time that facial recognition has been used to stop wrongdoers in Beijing. In 2017, we reported on how visitors to a certain restroom in the capital city were having their faces scanned in a bid to prevent locals stealing the paper for use at home. The technology stops users from receiving more than two feet of paper in a nine-minute period.

In the U.S., facial-recognition technology has yet to be used by police. However, recent advances in the technology mean that it can now be used to recognize individuals even when they try to purposely obscure their identity by wearing a fake beard or giant sunglasses.

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Startup can preserve your brain for future upload, but it’s ‘100 percent fatal’

SubstanceP/Getty Images

The idea of being able to upload our consciousness to a computer is a tech dream that everyone from science-fiction writers to futurist Ray Kurzweil has discussed. But a new startup being shepherded by startup accelerator Y Combinator wants to make it a reality — although there is a catch. You have to die in order for it to be able to work its magic. And there’s no guarantee that the consciousness uploading part will actually pan out, either.

Called Nectome, the startup’s premise is to preserve brains in microscopic detail using what MIT Review describes as a “high-tech embalming process.” This involves a process called vitrifixation, also known as aldehyde-stabilized cryopreservation. The team behind the project, led by co-founders Michael McCanna and Robert McIntyre, have previously won the Brain Preservation Prize (yes, that’s a real thing!) for preserving a complete rabbit connectome, a complete map of all the neural connections in the brain. They have also scaled this preservation process to larger brains, including one carried out on the corpse of an elderly woman in February. This was the first demonstration of vitrifixation on a human brain.

So what’s the sales pitch? Basically that you can pay Nectome to carry out its brain embalming process after your death. Right now, the company is gauging interest by taking $10,000 deposits from customers, although these are fully refundable if you happen to have a change of mind — so to speak.

Beyond this, the company isn’t promising anything in terms of guaranteed immortality, but its website certainly suggests that mind uploading is the end goal — although it’s not clear whether this would be carried out by Nectome or a third party.

“Our mission is to preserve your brain well enough to keep all its memories intact: from that great chapter of your favorite book to the feeling of cold winter air, baking an apple pie, or having dinner with your friends and family,” the company writes. “We believe that within the current century it will be feasible to digitize this information and use it to re-create your consciousness.”

So far, Nectome has received $1 million in funding, including $120,000 from Y Combinator and an additional $960,000 federal grant from the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health for “whole-brain nanoscale preservation and imaging.” Will enough people add their $10,000 deposits to make this a scalable business? We guess we will have to wait and see.

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These are the Chromebooks that can run Android apps from Google Play

Android — and 1,000,000+ apps — on your Chromebook is awesome.

But not every Chromebook is going to get updated to have Google Play and Android apps. And most of the ones that will are in a long testing process.

We all hate waiting. And we all hate updates that break things. Google and the people who made your Chromebook are trying to make sure everything is good and keep the wait time to a minimum, but still — we all hate waiting!

Things are progressing. Here’s the current state of Android on Chromebooks and Chromeboxes.

Chromebooks with Android apps available in the stable channel

Make sure you have the latest version of Chrome and look in your settings if you don’t have a Play Store app. You can enable it there by checking the box.

• Acer Chromebook R11
• Acer Chromebook R13
• Acer Chromebook Spin 11
• Acer Chromebook 14 (CB3-431)
• Acer Chromebook 14 for Work
• Acer Chromebook 15 (CB3-532. CB5-571, C910)
• Acer Chromebook 11 N7 (C731, C731T)
• Acer Chromebook 11 (C771, C771T, C740)
• AOpen Chromebox Mini
• AOpen Chromebase Mini
• ASUS Chromebook Flip C100PA
• ASUS Chromebook Flip C101PA
• ASUS Chromebook Flip C213
• ASUS Chromebook Flip C302
• ASUS Chromebook C202SA
• ASUS Chromebook C300SA / C301SA
• CTL NL61 Chromebook
• CTL Chromebook J2 / J4
• CTL J5 Convertible Chrombook
• Dell Chromebook 11 (3180, 5190)
• Dell Chromebook 11 Convertible (3189, 5190)
• Dell Chromebook 13 (3380, 7310)
• eduGear Chromebook M Series
• eduGear Chromebook K Series
  *eduGear CMT Chromebook
• Edxis Education Chromebook
• Google Chromebook Pixel (2015)
• Google Pixelbook
• Haier Chromebook 11e
• Haier Chromebook 11 C
• HiSense Chromebook 11
• HP Chromebook 11 G5
• HP Chromebook 11 G5 EE
• HP Chromebook 11 G6
• HP Chromebook x360 11 EE
• HP Chromebook 13 G1
• HP Chromebook 14 G5
• Lenovo Flex 11 Chromebook
• Lenovo N23 Chromebook
• Lenovo N23 Yoga Chromebook
• Lenovo IdeaPad N42 Chromebook
• Lenovo N22 Chromebook
• Lenovo N42 Chromebook
• Lenovo Thinkpad 11e Chromebook (Gen 3)
• Lenovo ThinkPad 11e Chromebook (Gen 4)
• Lenovo Thinkpad 11e Yoga Chromebook (Gen 4)
• Lenovo Thinkpad 13
• Medion Chromebook S2015
• Mercer Chromebook NL6D
• Multilaser Chromebook M11C
• NComputing Chromebook CX100
• Nexian Chromebook 11.6″
• PCMerge Chromebook PCM-116E
• PCMerge Chromebook PCM-116T-432B
• Poin2 Chromebook 11
• Poin2 Chromebook 14
• Samsung Chromebook 3
• Samsung Chromebook Plus
• Samsung Chromebook Pro
• Sector 5 E1 Rugged Chromebook
• Viglen Chromebook 11
• Viglen Chromebook 360

Chromebooks with Android support in the beta channel

You’ll need to switch to the beta channel to enable Android support. Further instructions on switching channels can be found here.

• Toshiba Chromebook 2 (2015)

Chrome devices that will be supported sometime in the future

These are the devices that will officially be updated to use Google Play. There is no word on when to expect the update, only that they will be supported.

Acer

• Chromebook 11 CB3-111 / C730 / C730E / CB3-131
• Chromebook 15 (CB3-531)
• Chromebox CXI2
• Chromebase 24

AOpen

• Chromebox Commercial
• Chromebase Commercial

Asus

• Chromebook C200
• Chromebook C201PA
• Chromebook C300
• Chromebox CN62
• Chromebit CS10

Bobicus

• Chromebook 11

CDI

• eduGear Chromebook R Series

CTL

• N6 Education Chromebook

Dell

• Chromebook 11 3120

Edxis

• Chromebook

Haier

• Chromebook 11
• Chromebook 11 G2

Hexa

• Chromebook Pi

Lava

• Xolo Chromebook

HP

• Chromebook 11 G3 / G4 / G4 EE
• Chromebook 14 G4

Lenovo

• 100S Chromebook
• N20 / N20P Chromebook
• N21 Chromebook
• ThinkCentre Chromebox
• Thinkpad 11e Chromebook Gen 2
• Thinkpad 11e Yoga Chromebook

Medion

• Akoya S2013

M&A

• Chromebook

Samsung

• Chromebook 2 11″ – XE500C12

Senkatel

• C1101 Chromebook

True IDC

• Chromebook 11

Updated March 2018: Updated with the latest models to offer Android apps.

We will continue to monitor the list and add any new Chromebooks that Google notes will support the feature.

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Best Android apps for connecting your phone and your Windows 10 PC

Windows 10 and Android can play nicely if you know which apps to use.

Last month we looked at apps that allow you to connect iOS devices to your Windows 10 PC. But if you’re on Android and Windows 10, you don’t need to feel left out. There are a number of ways to connect your Android devices to your PC. In fact, due to the open nature of Android, there are even more options.

While there are many Microsoft apps available for Android, this list is about apps that connect your phone and your PC, not just services that are available on both.

How Microsoft is turning Android into the mobile OS for Windows users

From mirroring your screen to connecting your devices through the web, these are the best apps to connect your Android phone to Windows 10.

• AirDroid
• Vysor
• Textto
• Photos Companion
• Cortana
• Microsoft Edge
• Honorable mentions

AirDroid

AirDroid extends your Android phone experience to your PC. You can mirror the entire phone screen and control your phone through your PC or just sync specific aspects of the phone such as notifications. You can respond to messages from your PC through SMS, WhatsApp, Kik, and other messaging services and also have the option to send quick replies to someone who calls you on the phone.

You can also use it to transfer files between your phone and your PC and control your camera remotely.

Setting up AirDroid takes a little bit of work, you have to unlock developer options and turn on USB debugging, but the app and AirDroid’s website walk you through this.

There’s a basic free version of the app, or you can upgrade to pro for $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year. The pro version removes ads, allows you to transfer entire folders, and grants you access to more features broken down on their website.

I like the idea of AirDroid, and it worked fairly well in my testing, but screen mirroring did run into some glitches, as did notifications. This could be based on my hardware so it’s worth trying it out on your setup to see how it performs.

See in Google Play Store

Vysor

Vysor is another way to mirror your Android phone onto your PC. It also allows you to drag and drop files and take screenshots. You can also use Vysor to type into text boxes on your phone using your PCs keyboard.

One way it differs from AirDroid is that it allows you to use Vysor Share, though you need a Vysor Pro account, which lets you share your phone with people throughout your office.

There is a free version of Vysor but to unlock high quality mirroring, wireless connection, Vysor Share, and more features you’ll need to upgrade to Vysor Pro which costs $2.50 per month, $10 per year or $40 for a lifetime.

See in Google Play Store

Textto

Rather than mirroring your entire screen or all of your notifications, Textto specializes in allowing you to text from your PC. Setting it up is incredibly easy. You just need to sign up with a Gmail account on both the Android app and PC version of Textto. You can then text from your computer through Textto’s PC program or the web. It works wirelessly so you can set it up and then just text from your phone or PC.

Textto doesn’t replace your SMS app of choice on your phone, it just relays your text messages through your PC. I was incredibly impressed while using this and it’s especially useful because Skype SMS relay still hasn’t arrived on Android.

You can get the PC version from Textto’s website and download the Android app through Google Play. Both of them are free.

See in Google Play Store

Photos Companion

Photos Companion comes from the Microsoft Garage. It allows you to send your photos between your Android phone and your PC as long as you’re on the same wireless network. The connection works almost instantaneously and only requires scanning a QR code to set up.

The Android version of the app is free, and the Windows 10 Photos app comes for free as part of Windows 10.

See in Google Play Store

Cortana

There’s no shortage of digital assistants on Android, but if you use a Windows 10 PC, it’s worth checking out Cortana. The assistant can sync reminders, lists, notes on both your Android phone and PC. It can also sync notifications from your phone with your PC.

How to sync notifications between Android and Windows 10 using Cortana

Cortana has become easier to access than ever on Android phones by its integration with Microsoft Launcher. Cortana is free on Android, as is Microsoft Launcher which can integrate with it, and is also built into Windows 10.

See in Google Play Store

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge provides a nice browser experience as its own app on Android, but it’s especially useful if you want to continue your browsing experience from your phone to your PC. You can select to continue viewing any webpage on your PC immediately or select to view it later.

Even in preview, Edge on Android already shows promise

Microsoft Edge also syncs with other aspects of the PC version of Edge including favorites so you can have a close to seamless browsing experience.

Edge is part of Windows 10, and the Android version is free.

See in Google Play Store

Honorable mentions

There are two other apps that help you connect your phone to your PC, but they are restricted to specific hardware.

Dell Mobile Connect

Dell Mobile Connect allows you to make calls and texts through your PC and also lets you read and react to notifications. Our executive editor, Daniel Rubino, has called it amazing and it looks like a big draw to anyone considering new hardware. But the app is not only restricted to working with Dell PCs, it only works with specific Dell PCs. Hopefully, we’ll see more hardware from Dell supporting this in the future and other OEMs making similar applications.

Dell Mobile Connect is amazing.

Full mirroring of Android on Windows 10. Make/receive calls/sms. pic.twitter.com/70zY0ZcvtL

— Daniel Rubino (@Daniel_Rubino) March 1, 2018

See in Google Play Store

HP Orbit

HP also has an app of their own, HP Orbit, which allows you to send photos, text, and links between your phone and your PC. As you’d expect, it requires an HP PC. It isn’t as powerful as Dell Mobile Connect but is very fast.

See in Google Play Store

Over to you

These are some of the best ways to connect Android phones to Windows 10 PCs, but they aren’t the only ways. What are your favourite apps and services to connect your devices across platforms? Let us know in the comments below.

T-Mobile is finally adopting Google’s RCS Universal Profile

The Un-Carrier’s network will support the standard in Q2 of this year.

Over the last couple years, there’s been a lot of talk about Rich Communication Services — or RCS for short. RCS is the next evolution of traditional SMS texting, and it allows for advanced messaging features like high-quality image sharing, notifications when someone’s read your message, typing indicators, and more. On March 13, 2018, T-Mobile announced that it was officially joining Google and GSMA’s RCS Universal Profile.

For those that need a quick refresher, Google and GSMA got together back in 2016 to create the RCS Universal Profile — a system carriers and manufacturers could adopt to promote a seamless RCS messaging experience across different networks and hardware. This was a big step in the right direction, but it’s been held back from having any real impact thanks to the stubbornness of U.S. carriers.

Sprint was quick to join the RCS Universal Profile the same year it was announced, but none of the other networks followed. T-Mobile and Sprint have both been working on their own proprietary methods, and while Verizon said it would join the standard at some point, we’ve yet to see anything come to fruition there.

T-Mobile customers will soon be able to use RCS features in Android Messages.

However, with T-Mobile now announcing that its network will support the RCS Universal Profile beginning in Q2 of this year, we’re finally making some progress.

When this happens, T-Mobile customers will be able to use Google’s Android Messages app and send/receive powerful RCS texts to other T-Mobile subscribers and folks on Sprint. In other words, your regular SMS conversations will get many of the features you’ve come to know and love from the likes of WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.

AT&T and Verizon still need to commit to the RCS Universal Standard before this is a totally widespread thing across the United States, but even so, this is incredibly exciting.

If you’re on T-Mobile, are you looking forward to RCS conversations?

What is RCS and why is it important to Android?

Google’s bringing free, high-speed Wi-Fi to 60+ locations across Mexico

Over 100 areas will be supported by the end of 2018.

After launching first in India and Indonesia, Google is now bringing its Google Station program to Mexico.

Google Station launched back in 2015, and its goal is to offer people Internet access that’s fast, free, and reliable. Google says it’ll first be rolling out its Station hotspots across 60 different venues in Mexico, including malls, airports, and public transit stations, but it hopes to expand this to over 100 locations by the end of 2018.

Stations will be available both in Mexico City and across the rest of the country, and Google’s partnering with local Wi-Fi provider Sitwifi to make this possible.

Although data plans for cell phone service are more affordable than ever in Mexico, Google says “access to information is still a challenge for many” in Mexico. Considering that Mexico is the third-highest Internet-dependent country in all of Latin America, this is big news.

Per Google’s announcement post:

Mexico is the first country in Latin America to launch Google Station, and the third country globally, after India and Indonesia. Google Station can be found in Mexico City and 44 more cities in the country, so if you’re near one of the locations, go watch a high-quality video (or maybe save some YouTube offline for later)!

Google’s free public Wi-Fi is now available at 100 railway stations across India

Samsung’s SmartThings hub is down for North American users (updated)

Samsung launched its SmartThings automation Hub back in late 2015. Wirecutter called it the best smart hub the following year, and the company has added more features to the system, like the ability to control it with Gear smartwatches. Unfortunately, Samsung has confirmed that the system has been down for many North American users since yesterday. The company has also tweeted that it is still looking into the issue as of today.

Our teams are currently investigating the issues impacting users. We apologize for any inconvenience. In order to get the latest updates, check out our status page here: https://t.co/2oDiOZ3XFJ. If you have additional questions let us know at Support@SmartThings.com

— SmartThings (@smartthings) March 13, 2018

When your smart hub goes down, so do all the associated devices, including garage door openers and home locks. As noted by The Verge, many users are upset, with smart things like Hue light bulbs and Leviton dimmer switches no longer working automatically, though many devices can still be operated manually.

Update: The company now says its issues have been resolved, saying that the “small subset” of users who had ongoing problems should be back online.

Issues with the SmartThings Cloud have been resolved. We continue to closely monitor our systems and will keep our community up to date. For more information, visit https://t.co/ts8TEjmw3b and for any additional support, please contact support@smartthings.com.

— SmartThings (@smartthings) March 13, 2018

Via: The Verge

Source: Samsung/SmartThings