Misfit Link offers activity tracking and more in a $20 wearable
Misfit’s Flash activity tracker was already useful for handling stuff other than tallying your sleep and exercise stats. The new software is available on iOS now, but it won’t arrive for Android until next month. There’s a new gadget that also carries the Link name too, and the “easy to use activity tracker and smart button” offers an even more affordable option for folks who’ve been eying Misfit’s devices. At $20 (£20) the company touts the Link as the “lowest-priced multifunctional and modular wearable on the market” — $30 less than the Flash. It’s only available directly from Misfit for now, but it’s set to hit retail outlets later this quarter.
Microsoft has a TwinsOrNot app for Windows Phone devices
Microsoft’s been big on facial recognition lately. After promising that the technology can be used as a log-in option for Windows 10, it launched a website that guesses your age based on your features (HowOld.net) and another that takes a stab at whether the people in two different photos are twins (TwinsOrNot.net). More recently, the company has launched a mobile app version of TwinsOrNot for Windows Phone devices. You know, for those times when you quickly need to know if your power brows really make you look like Cara Delevingne. Or if you and your BFF are slowly morphing into a single person like Zooey Deschanel and Katy Perry in the image above.
Just like the website, the app allows you to upload your own pics straight from your device or to search Bing, in case you’re specifically looking for celebrity photos. TwinsOrNot was built using a set of APIs under Project Oxford within just a few hours to prove that it’s easy to incorporate machine learning into apps. It was designed to get better the more you use it, so long as you allow it to keep the photos you upload, but you can always choose to have it delete your images after use.
Source: Windows Phone
Emailing yourself? Google Inbox suggests saving reminders instead
Google’s Inbox app can become a powerful productivity tool if you get the hang of its numerous features. One of its latest offerings, for instance, makes sure you know you can save reminders within the app. Next time you send an email to yourself for whatever reason — say, so you can access a shopping list on several devices — the app will ask if you want to create a reminder instead. If you tap the pop-up prompt (see image above) and save, that reminder will contain everything you typed in the email. Not a bad little feature, though it would be a lot more useful if it can also auto-upload attached files or images to Drive or to Google’s new Photos app.
Filed under: Misc, Mobile, Google
Source: Android Police, Mark Dodsworth (Google+)
Addictive game Agar.io now available on Android
If you haven’t heard of the popular browser-based multiplayer game called Agar.io then you’ve been missing out. In the game, you are a cell that splits and absorbs other smaller cells to grow larger and you compete against players around the globe to become the biggest cell of them all.
“Play online with players around the world as you try to become the biggest cell of them all! Control your tiny cell and eat other players to grow larger! But watch out: players bigger than you will be trying to make you their lunch. Survive and eat long enough to become the biggest cell in the game!“
The game is incredibly addictive and a great time-killer, and because it’s in your browser can be played anywhere. Now, the addictive game just got even more addictive and accessible since it just got an Android companion app.
“With new controls developed especially for touchscreens, agar.io offers the same addictive gameplay that millions have already enjoyed on PC. Play online in free-for-all action and use splitting, shrinking and dodging tactics to catch other players – or avoid them! Use a variety of special secret skins with the right username!“
You can download Agar.io right now using the link below.
The post Addictive game Agar.io now available on Android appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Amazon’s Fling is its version of AirPlay and Google Cast
If you’ve been hoping for an AirPlay or Cast-like tool to beam content to your Amazon streaming gadgets, you’ll soon be in luck. The company revealed its Fling feature this week, a tool that will allow developers to include a way to control media from a mobile device on your Fire TV. Right now, the software will let you send video, audio and still images from an Android or iOS device to the set-top box (or dongle, we’d surmise) for viewing. Devs can also employ “two-way communication” between the Fire TV and a phone or tablet to “engaging second screen experiences.”
The company released an SDK so eager app makers can get started, and Karaoke Party and Rivet Radio are among the first selections to employ the tech. Rather than building the tool into it’s OS like Apple and Google, Amazon is allowing app developers to add in Fling as they wish. Amazon’s mobile devices run a version Google’s operating system after all, and some folks who own its streaming gear probably also own an iOS or Android device. That being said, it’ll be interesting to see if the likes of Netflix, Hulu and others will decide to opt in.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD, Mobile, Amazon
Via: CNET
Source: Amazon
Samsung and Google censor LGBT apps in South Korea
Samsung is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, in the hub of an exceedingly connected country: South Korea boasts the fastest internet connection speed in the world and is second globally in smartphone penetration. It’s in this environment that both Samsung and Google have banned popular gay social networking apps from their online stores, Buzzfeed News reports. Samsung rejected the gay hookup app Hornet from its South Korean store in 2013, citing local values and laws that disallow LGBT content. Hornet is available in the US and other countries, though it remains banned in Argentina, Iceland, Syria and South Korea, the report says. Samsung confirmed to the site that it blocks LGBT apps on a country-by-country basis, though it’s notable that Argentina and Iceland both legalized same-sex marriage in 2010.
Many Android smartphone users get their apps from Google Play as opposed to Samsung’s own store, and Hornet, Grindr and other LGBT networking apps are on there, even in South Korea. One popular gay dating app, Jack’d, is not available on Google Play in South Korea — the company deleted Jack’d from its store a few years ago, seemingly without notifying its developer, Buzzfeed reports. Still, Jack’d has more than 500,000 users in South Korea, most of them on Android, the app’s lead account manager for Asia told the site. Where there’s a will, there’s a way to bypass a smarthphone’s region settings via VPN.
Censorship in South Korea seems to stem from the top: The country’s new justice minister, Kim Hyun-woong, recently called for restrictions against a pride march that has been held for the past 16 years. “It does not go by our society’s traditional values or norms, therefore I believe there should be restrictions against it,” he said during his confirmation hearings, according to Buzzfeed. The pride march went ahead in June, though it faced fierce opposition and protests from Christian groups in the country.
[Image credit: Samsung]
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, HD, Samsung
Source: Buzzfeed News
Vine for iOS updated with HD video uploads
We’ve adjusted to watching each other’s lives six-seconds at a time, but Vine’s shareable moments always come across a little …blurry. Thankfully, the short-video service is fixing that: as of today, folks using the Vine app on iOS will have access to a new HD quality option. Love it. Use it. Save all of our eyes.
The new quality setting can be found in the app’s settings menu under “Your Content,” but it’s not the first time Vine has bumped up video quality. In March, the service announced a slow rollout to “high quality” videos, bumping up videos to 720p from 480p. Vine didn’t clarify what was different about the HD videos in this update, but we’ve reached out for specifics. In the meantime, please enjoy this high-quality Vine of one of Engadget’s many cats:
Source: Vine
Vine for iOS updated with HD video uploads
We’ve adjusted to watching each other’s lives six-seconds at a time, but Vine’s shareable moments always come across a little …blurry. Thankfully, the short-video service is fixing that: as of today, folks using the Vine app on iOS will have access to a new HD quality option. Love it. Use it. Save all of our eyes.
The new quality setting can be found in the app’s settings menu under “Your Content,” but it’s not the first time Vine has bumped up video quality. In March, the service announced a slow rollout to “high quality” videos, bumping up videos to 720p from 480p. Vine didn’t clarify what was different about the HD videos in this update, but we’ve reached out for specifics. In the meantime, please enjoy this high-quality Vine of one of Engadget’s many cats:
Source: Vine
You can use your Pinterest account to log into other apps
It’s now easier to “pin” images you like from Instagram, Etsy and Polyvore, thanks to the first fruits of Pinterests’ developer platform released back in May. The app/website now features IFTTT and Polyvore integration, letting you log into those services with a Pinterest account and do some serious cross-posting. For instance, if you link it with IFTTT, you can easily pin any photo straight from Instagram or Etsy (among other websites) and take advantage of Pinterest recipes, such as the one that automatically tweets photos you pin.
If you’re into Polyvore, the integration lets you quickly pin photo sets, but only via desktop and iOS devices at the moment. Polyvore’s a fashion and beauty website where you can assemble pictures of clothes, accessories and makeup that you think would make a good outfit in a single digital canvas. If more services introduce Pinterest integration in the future, it just might become a viable (and perhaps a more anonymous) alternative to Facebook-, Twitter- and Google-based log-ins.
Source: Pinterest (1), (2)
Your pals can broadcast during your Meerkat streams, if you let them
To let viewers feel like they’re part of the action, Meerkat announced a new feature that lets you ask for some crowd participation. The video-streaming app now has a Cameo tool that’ll allow broadcasters to hand the reins over to viewers for up to a minute. “It’s a simple yet powerful way to create a deeper human connection with people - going from ‘broadcasting to’ towards ‘broadcasting with,’” the company said in a blog post. The ability to highjack streams popped up back in March and was quickly nixed. Now, it’s an actual feature, which makes me wonder if someone flipped the switch a little early.
To invite someone to join, you can visit a user’s profile or comment with “Cameo @username.” Once accepted, the invitee takes over for up to 60 seconds. When the Cameo time is up, or when you’ve had enough and end it manually, the stream goes back to you. What’s more, you can also link your Facebook profile to be notified when friends and Pages you follow are streaming. There’s also easy access to your library of videos too, so that you can decide what’s public and what’s not right after a broadcast.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile
Source: Meerkat (Medium)
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