Netflix’s TV apps get their first major update since 2013
While Netflix has focused on rolling out more original content to more countries over the last couple of years, we haven’t seen as many updates to its software as we used to. Last week the streaming video service said it would start optimizing its mobile apps, but first up is a tweak for the TV apps you probably use more often. Netflix says this is the first major change its TV apps have had since the new look rolled out in late 2013, and it will start or resume video as soon as you select a title, while keeping the info on the screen (check after the break for a GIF showing how it works). An earnings report earlier this year mentioned bringing video “forward” in the TV experience, and this seems to be a part of that plan, delivering what Netflix says is a more cinematic experience.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Netflix Blog
Microsoft Send brings chat-style messaging to Outlook emails
To help ease the burden of email, Google created Inbox, and now Microsoft is looking to lend a hand, too. With Send, you can keep it brief for those times when “in-and-out email” is all that’s needed. It’s less about organization and more like an IM-like option for your inbox. The app provides the short convos that text or IMs usually afford, but allows access to your email contacts and stores all of the threads in Outlook for later reference. In other words, you can quickly send a “meet me downstairs” to a colleague without having to make a phone call or send an email with a subject line, etc. There’s also a Quick Reply tool with some pre-entered responses to save you even more time — things like “on my way” or “I’ll get back to you.”
Send only displays the short emails that were created/received in the app, so all of those longer messages remain in Outlook or your app of choice. On the back end, though, Send messages are treated like regular work correspondence, and built-in tools for IT departments are there, too. For now, Send is only available on iOS in the US and Canada, but it’ll arrive on Windows Phone and Android in the near future. You’ll also need an Office 365 business or education account to give it a go, which means a lot of us will have to wait for wider availability “in the coming months.”
GoPro is making a mobile video-editing app
Creating short reels out of GoPro footage requires video editing knowledge, that’s why some casual users don’t even bother. Well, that could change soon enough — or at least as soon as the company’s new mobile app launches. According to TechCrunch, GoPro president Tony Bates has revealed to investors that the action camera maker is developing an app, which will give users the capability to edit and trim footage straight from a phone or tablet. It’s in the final testing phase and could be out by the end of summer, so don’t be surprised if you find your News Feed filled with friends’ surfing, swimming or hiking videos.
GoPro’s ultimate plan, however, is to launch a cloud service that can automatically generate highlight reels. Bates has told investors that it’s already being developed — in fact, the company has begun testing an early version that can view videos captured not only by GoPro devices, but also by other cameras. It has no editing features yet, but that’ll likely come later on, especially since the company clearly has money to support its development: According to GoPro’s latest financial earnings report, its revenue for the second quarter of 2015 ($420 million) is ~71.7 percent higher than last year’s ($245 million).
Source: TechCrunch
Starbucks app to serve up free New York Times articles
It’s clear that Starbucks aims to pull in media companies for its Rewards program: after teaming up with Spotify earlier this year, the coffeehouse chain is now partnering with The New York Times. You can already get access to 15 free articles from NYT on Starbucks’ app, but this deal expands their partnership further. Starting in 2016, you’ll get access to the top news of the day, daily/weekend briefings and even more timely articles “addressing key social, political and economic issues” for free.
As you might know, though, Starbucks’ rewards program awards “Stars” you can use to redeem food and beverage when you purchase from its partners through its app. Just like you can get Stars for subscribing to Spotify Premium through the coffeehouse’s app, you can also earn some for subscribing to the print and/or digital versions of the newspaper. You’ve got to wonder which media company’s next on Starbucks’ list — Netflix? Hulu? Another type of company altogether?
[Image credit: Bosc d’Anjou/Flickr]
Source: Starbucks
Deepify: Photo-to-3D Wallpaper (app review)
Overview
Live wallpapers are one of the things in Android that no other OS has. Even the raved iPhone lacks this beautiful addition. Live wallpapers make your screen more lively and offer a more immersive Android experience. Deepify: Photo-to-3D Wallpaper allows Android users to set custom photos as live wallpapers. Converting your normal images to beautiful 3D experiences.
Setup
The developer of Deepify: Photo-to-3D Wallpaper, Games by Dad, has provided an easy-to-follow guide for the setup of the app. I was able to set it up in less than a minute, its that simple! After the basic setup, you will see a standard set of 3D images and effects on your screen. It also displays some tips on-screen that help in understanding the functionality of the app better. For setting your own image just click on the Photo 1 option, set the required image and effect, click home and you are all set!
Function
After enabling Deepify: Photo-to-3D Wallpaper, double tapping on the screen brings you to the settings section of the app. It contains the options to set your custom images as wallpapers and allows for further customization. A maximum of two photos is allowed to be set in the free version. Upto 20 photos can be set in the pro version. The photos that can be set should either be shot from Google Camera Lens Blur Effect or be a png image with a RGBA character. Upon setting the image, the user can customize the photo effects that will be overlayed on top of the image. There are several 3D effects to choose from and allows for purchase of more effects as well.
Deepify: Photo-to-3D Wallpaper also gives you the option to export your set images as a gif or a bootanimation. This means you can really get creative and experiment with a wide variety of images and effects combination. The images that you set are automatically converted to 3D images and on the screen you can rotate and play with them by titling the phone.
Pictures
Target Audience
Young or old everybody enjoys live wallpapers. I used a really simple lens blur image and Deepified it. With all the effects and the amazing Unity graphics, it looks amazing. In-your-face 3D photo with animated effects is really something you won’t find in any other app. For root users, the bootanimation option is really worth trying out!
What we liked:
- 3D wallpaper effect
- Easy to use interface
- Effects variety
What needs improvement:
- More effects
- Integrated camera in future update
- Option to turn off demo photos
Summary
Deepify: Photo-to-3D Wallpaper is a one of a kind 3D image live wallpaper that brings your screen to life providing an almost real 3D experience. The customization options available to the user are really good. There is no limit to how creative you can get with it and experiment with the different photos and effects.
Developer Ron Mar provides excellent technical support for Deepify: Photo-to-3D Wallpaper. The app is free on the playstore with reasonably priced in-app purchases. Give it a spin and let us know your experiences in the comments below.
The post Deepify: Photo-to-3D Wallpaper (app review) appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Nike+ Running app soundtracks your morning jog with Spotify tunes
Sure, Adidas already offers ways to outfit your run with tunes from Spotify, and now Nike is looking to do the same. The latter footwear company updated its Nike+ Running app to pipe in the streaming service’s songs from within. In addition to spinning the Nike+ Run Club playlists Spotify announced a while back, the update also creates playlists based on a pace goal and music preference — a feature that’s called Pace Stations. Once that info is entered, the software then calculates the target beats per minute (BPM) before compiling a 100-song playlist to serve as a guide. Match your stride to the pace of the music and you’ll reach your goal. Nike says it’s “the first-of-its-kind instructive experience then guides runners to their goals when they step in-beat to the prescribed songs.” Unfortunately, the Pace Stations are an iOS-only feature.
Of course, Adidas also has an app that serves up songs from Spotify based on stride rate, so if you’re a runner that prefers Spotify, you can let your shoe allegiances decide which run-tracking app you use. If you opt for Nike+, though, you can try Spotify Premium for a week without entering any payment info. Hand over your a credit card number and that free trial gets bumped to 60 days. Not too shabby.
Tapatalk updated to version 5 with some classic touches
Popular forum browsing interface Tapatalk has rolled out an update to version 5. The new version brings back some previous features to the interface, probably based on user feedback. To help spin this, the Tapatalk team frames these as “classic” changes to the app.
One of the changes in the new version is an improved forum nav slide bar accessed using the overflow menu button in the top right when visiting a forum. This provides some new options to perform forum actions or navigation like marking all messages as read, checking notifications, or accessing messages.
Subforum navigation has been added back to the app so that users can navigate straight to particular subforums from the forum home view. Tapatalk says they have overhauled the font size on all screens to improve readability. There is the usual assortment of bugs fixes and performance enhancements which the Tapatalk team says improves load times and responsiveness.
Tapatalk users will also find that they can customize the fonts used and they can follow other forum users with a simple tap on their avatar.
Finally, Tapatalk says they have included a Night Reading Mode that is fully customizable. You can check to see whether the update is available for your account by visiting the Google Play Store using one of the links below.
Come comment on this article: Tapatalk updated to version 5 with some classic touches
Yahoo and Beme take on Snapchat with video sharing apps
There’s no shortage of apps that can take short video clips you can blast to friends. But if you’re willing to branch out and try new things, Yahoo and YouTube celebrity Casey Neistat have released alternatives with different takes on video sharing. Neistat’s iPhone app called Beme, for instance, starts recording four-second videos when you cover the sensor above the device’s earpiece. In his demo below the fold, he shows how you can cover the sensor by placing the phone against your chest. The idea is that you get to experience life and see events with your own eyes instead of through a screen, even while recording what’s in front of you.
The video clip you upload will stay long enough for friends to be able to send you reaction selfies, after which, it vanishes completely. Neistat told The New York Times that his team designed the app to be as simple as possible (it doesn’t have a lot of features), because they “want you to feel like you’re taking a peek under the hood.” Yahoo’s new messaging app called Livetext, however, is a bit more conventional than Beme, though it still works quite differently than similar programs.
On Livetext, conversation begins when you send a text message to a friend. The moment that friend opens your message, you’d immediately see him/her and whatever’s in view of the camera in a silent, GIF-like video. The company has been working on a revamp of its messaging app for quite some time, but it’s unclear if this is the product of those efforts. TechCrunch has merely spotted Livetext on iTunes Hong Kong — it’s been there for a week now, released with no fanfare or even a formal announcement.
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Yahoo Livetext (iTunes), Beme (iTunes)
Uber’s fake feature blasts NYC regulators
Uber cars began outnumbering yellow cabs in NYC back in March, but that will change if Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposal passes. See, de Blasio wants to put a cap on the number of licenses given out to ride-sharing companies. Obviously, Uber isn’t happy about that, so it’s putting the mayor on blast by adding a fake feature on its app named after him. While the app’s normal modes still show available rides you can call, the “de Blasio mode” strips ’em all out and replaces them with an ominous-looking “No Cars Available” sign. Clicking the sign shows this message: “This is what Uber will look like in NYC if Mayor de Blasio’s Uber cap bill passes.”
In addition to the fake mode, Uber has also been buying commercial spots on local TV, appealing to people’s emotions — watch the video below to see what we’re talking about. After all, the City Council is scheduled to vote on the proposal as soon as next week, and de Blasio will surely attempt to convince members that the move will improve the city’s traffic flow. This isn’t the first time Uber and NYC’s authorities locked horns: the company was served with a temporary restraining order when it was just starting out in the city. And, just earlier this year, five of six Uber hubs in NYC were suspended until the company surrendered its travel data to the Taxi & Limousine Commission.
[Image credit: AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under: Transportation
Source: Wired
Surely someone cares about the official ‘Angry Birds’ sequel
Angry Birds revolutionized the mobile gaming market after its launch in 2009, and developer Rovio has since released numerous off-shoots, follow-up games and bits of retail merchandise, plus it’s working on an animated film due in theaters next April, starring Peter Dinklage and Maya Rudolph. Now, six years and 3 billion series downloads later, Angry Birds 2 is officially on its way. The sequel is due to hit app stores worldwide on July 30th and, yes, it seems the game will still feature exploding crates, a bunch of pigs and some deeply upset birds.
Rovio doesn’t specify which app stores Angry Birds 2 is coming to, but it’s safe to expect a fairly comprehensive, simultaneous launch across iOS, Android, Amazon and Windows app stores. While Angry Birds remains a ubiquitous name in mainstream mobile-gaming conversations, it now operates in a crowded marketplace filled with fresh experiences such as Monument Valley, Device 6, Minecraft, Crossy Road, Goat Simulator, Five Nights at Freddy’s and thousands more. Surely Rovio wants excitement for Angry Birds to remain high ahead of its theatrical debut in April, so expect more announcements from the company after the launch of this month’s full-fledged sequel.
Source: Rovio
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