Yelp settles with the FTC over claims it collected personal info from kids
The FTC is eager to crack down on any perceived online privacy violations, especially when they involve children — and we just got a good demonstration of that eagerness today. Both Yelp and mobile app developer TinyCo have settled with the FTC over allegations that they knowingly scooped up kids’ personal information without permission. Yelp is paying a $450,000 penalty because it didn’t have an effective age screen in its apps, letting those under 13 sign up by themselves. TinyCo, meanwhile, is shelling out $300,000 after some of its kid-oriented games asked for email addresses in return for in-game currency. These aren’t the biggest settlements we’ve seen by any stretch, but they’ll hopefully serve as warning to any app creator that wants to collect your little ones’ data.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile
Via: Reuters
Source: FTC
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Philips aims to relieve persistent pain with smartphone-controlled devices
Philips will soon launch a couple of iPhone- and iPad-controlled devices, but they’re not the company’s usual phone docks or Hue smartlight models — they’re gadgets designed to help suppress persistent pain. The first device (above) called PulseRelief uses Transcutaneous Electronic Nerve Stimulation or TENS technology, which delivers electric pulses straight to your nerves. That’s supposed to prevent pain signals from reaching your brain and to release endorphins, chemicals that make you feel good and happy. There are tons of similar gadgets out there (search for “TENS device” on eBay and Amazon to see what we mean), but Philips’ version lets you choose from 60 intensity levels through its smartphone app.
Philips created PulseRelief to target those suffering from musculoskeletal pain, but its other high-tech pain reliever called BlueTouch was made to relieve muscular back pain, in particular. If BlueTouch (below) looks familiar, it’s because an older version has long been available for sale. The device shines blue LED lights against your skin, which Philips claims can induce the body to release Nitric Oxide that increases blood flow and encourages the natural healing process. Like PulseRelief, this iteration comes with a phone app, where you can choose from various treatments. Both devices will be out in stores later this September and online in November, but make sure to read up on the medical claims behind the devices (the old BlueTouch had its share of doubters) and consult your doctor before getting one.
Filed under: Peripherals, Mobile
Source: Philips
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Facebook’s rumored ‘Moments’ app will help you share privately
Facebook’s megaphone-like approach to sharing makes it less than ideal for more private missives. Sharing private images or jokes with select people is something of a test of nerves. One slip of a drop-down menu, and your intimate photo could go global, rather than just to your “mates” privacy group. But, Facebook wants you to share in anyway, and to anyone you like with confidence it seems. According to TechCrunch, the social network’s working on a “Moments” mobile app to help. Once again, Facebook would be taking a single-focused idea out of the main mobile app into a standalone one if sources are correct. The Moments app will reportedly use a visual, tile-based interface for you select the group or sub groups of people you wish to share your — we assume — moment with. If this sounds a lot like Google+’s “circles” mechanism, that’s because it does. There’s no word when Moments could find its way onto phones, so for now, you’ll just have to run the gauntlet with current tools to avoid having your mom comment on bachelor(ette?) party photos.
Filed under: Internet, Mobile, Facebook
Source: TechCrunch
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Virgin Media’s TiVo design makeover begins with an updated iOS app
For the first time in four years, Virgin Media is going to give its TiVo user interface a much-needed facelift. Gone is the rich red that previously adorned menus, replaced with a new “plum” colour (purple to the untrained eye), that’s expected to reach set-top boxes in October. As we noted last week, Virgin is bringing its TV Anywhere apps in line with the new UI, and luckily for iOS users, that rollout begins today. While you’ll first notice the colour change when you update, Virgin Media has also made a couple of tweaks to the interface to fall in line with the iOS 7/iOS 8 aesthetic. Those aging rounded buttons have have swapped gradients for a flat white design and the updated menus help give the app a more modern feel. Unfortunately for Android users, Virgin says the revamped app is still a few months from completion, but the company has released a small update to include support for more Android 4.4 (KitKat) devices.
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Internet, Software
Source: TV Anywhere (App Store)
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FiftyThree’s new Mix service invites Paper users to collaborate
Some artists find inspiration in their peers’ artworks and even think it boring to draw alone. If you feel that way and you use FiftyThree’s Paper app (and maybe its Pencil stylus, as well) religiously, you can take advantage of the startup’s new service to collaborate with anyone you want. This new product is called Mix, and it’s an open platform where all users can share their work by uploading it straight from the Paper app. The latest version of Paper comes loaded with the Mix sharing option, as you can see in the video below — after you’ve uploaded your work, other members can finish it or put their own spin on it.
According to a FiftyThree rep, they’ve already seen a bunch of “incredible projects” during the beta testing phase, ranging from fun co-drawn pieces to collaborative inventions. If you want to start collaborating right now, you may want to launch Paper or to go to the Mix portal to sign up for an invitation ASAP — the startup’s sending out thousands of invites per week on a first-come-first-serve basis, letting people in by batches. By the end of October, though, the service will ultimately open its gates to the public, and everyone who signs up will instantly get an account.
Source: Mix, FiftyThree
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Glympse’s Android keyboard lets you share your location from any app
It’s not hard to share your whereabouts from your phone, but you usually have to dive into specific apps to do it; what if your friends on a new social network want to know that you’re nearby? That’s when Glympse’s new Keyboard app for Android may come to the rescue. So long as you have the regular Glympse on your phone, the input method lets you share your location through virtually any app. If there’s a text box, you can probably let others know where you are. You don’t have to give up keyboards like SwiftKey or Swype, either, since there’s a Quick Send mode that gets out of your way as soon as you’ve done. Glympse Keyboard isn’t going to be as sophisticated as apps that have position sharing built-in, but its sheer ubiquity could help the next time you’re meeting your friends for a night on the town.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Source: Google Play
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With Tiiny, your incriminating pics and videos disappear after 24 hours
What if you didn’t have worry about people seeing that picture or video you post after 24 hours? That’s just what Tiiny, the latest effort from Digg co-founder Kevin Rose, offers: disappearing thumbnail-sized images and vids in a constantly refreshing grid. Snapshots and footage from your pals appear there and they can’t be resized to judge fine details. In theory, this means that you’ll be a lot more forthcoming about your activities since there’s a lack of permanence and reduced pressure to add the proper filters. So, in addition to the ephemeral nature that the likes of Snapchat and others offer, there’s the compact stature, too. There’s also a Popular page, so you can see what’s getting the most love across all Tiiny users. If you’re looking to give it a shot, the iOS app is available now.
Source: iTunes
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Viber’s latest shot at Skype: video calling on Android and iOS
Viber really, really wants you to abandon Skype and all those other messaging apps, so its latest update adds an important feature for something in its category: video calls. The Rakuten-owned app now gives you the power to video chat with friends on Android and iOS, almost a year after it introduced the capability to call any number you want. And, in case you want to switch devices in the middle of a conversation, you can transfer video calls from mobile to desktop (where the feature’s been available for a while) and vice versa. Other than that, Viber 5.0 now lets you add friends quickly by scanning QR codes, but that sounds like a lackluster afterthought compared to video calls, doesn’t it?
[Image credit: Sam Azgor/Flickr]
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Via: The Next Web
Source: iOS, Google Play
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Panic’s ‘Transmit’ File Management App Coming to iOS 8 With App Extension Support [iOS Blog]
Panic, the company behind the popular file management app Transmit for Mac, has plans to bring Transmit to iOS in the near future, taking advantage of several new features introduced with iOS 8. Currently in beta, the Transmit iOS app offers a look at some of the impressive things both developers and end users will be able to do with Apple’s new operating system.
Aside from offering access to files on servers, Transmit also serves as a local file repository that can be accessed by other iOS apps.
Transmit iOS’s interface
Transmit iOS also takes full advantage of the “Extensibility” options bundled into iOS 8, especially the “Share” extension that allows apps to easily share content with other apps. When installed, Transmit iOS can be accessed in any share sheet in iOS, and used to save any type of file directly to an FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, or Amazon S3 server or to local storage within the app.
For example, selecting Transmit iOS from the Share sheet in Safari lets an HTML page be saved to a server. Selecting Transmit iOS in an app like Evernote or Byword will allow a text file to be uploaded, while selecting the upload option in a photo app like Snapseed lets users save a photo directly to their personal servers using Transmit iOS.
Saving a photo from Snapseed directly to an FTP server using Transmit
With share sheet support, uploading a file to a server via Transmit iOS is as easy as uploading a file to a cloud storage service like Dropbox, and it works in quite a few third-party apps in addition to pre-installed apps.
Transmit iOS also serves as a “Document Picker,” which means that it can be used in supported apps to open files stored directly off of a server. For instance, a Pages document stored on a server can be opened directly in the Pages app on iOS through Transmit iOS, and any changes made in iOS to that document will be saved to the original file in Transmit iOS.
Pages document on server with option to open in Pages app
Transmit iOS, like Transmit for Mac, is a full featured file management app. Users can connect to multiple servers, save favorite servers, upload files using drag and drop, delete content, move content, duplicate files, and easily transition files between local storage and an available server. The app’s local storage option also allows it to store documents from other apps directly on the device.
Transmit iOS includes support for Touch ID, allowing users to secure the app with a fingerprint. A passcode lock is also available on devices that do not have access to Touch ID, ensuring that all content remains safe and access to servers is restricted.
As can be seen in Transmit iOS, iOS 8 is going to enable a slew of useful features that have not previously been possible with iOS, and thus far, we’re only scratching the surface of what developers are going to bring to the operating system with the new APIs.
Panic plans to release Transmit for iOS 8 after iOS 8 becomes available to the public on September 17.
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The Premier League’s new app helps you enjoy a wet Wednesday night in Stoke
Old football folklore states that a super-talented and skillful overseas player hasn’t earned his stripes until he’s performed on a cold, wet and windy Wednesday night in Stoke. Those achievements would be nothing without fans there to chronicle them, so the Premier League has launched a new app to ensure there’s enough travelling supporters there to do just that. Available on both iOS and Android, Away Days has a simple premise: to get you to the stadium with plenty of time before kick-off. You’ll get access to live travel updates, details on the best places to crash, pubs to drink in, as well as comprehensive overviews of the stadiums themselves. The Premier League has gone as far as partnering with clubs and suppliers to cut the cost of getting to the ground, while also offering money off food, drink and parking when you arrive. Good news if you’re looking forward to seeing Falcao, Di Maria, Shaw, Rojo, Blind and Herrera attempt to emulate legends past at the Britannia come New Year’s Day.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software, Mobile
Source: Premier League Away Days (iOS), (Android)
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AIVAnet 