‘Faster, sleeker and simpler’ Hangouts arrives on Android
Google released its Hangouts 4.0 for the Android platform on Monday. First and foremost, the app now has been reskinned with material design. It also features a simplified compose button as well as a streamlined contacts list and file attachment function. What’s more, the company has reportedly has even gotten the app to consume less power thanks to improved messaging speeds and “obsessively fixing bugs.” They’re basically the same set of UI and performance tweaks that we saw at the end of June when the iOS version updated to the new material design version.
[Image Credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Filed under:
Internet, Apple, Google
Tags: Apple, google, hangouts, ios, materialdesign
Apple Addresses ‘Bendgate’ By Strengthening Weak Points of ‘iPhone 6s’ Shell
Following the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus last September, some users began experiencing issues with the larger-sized smartphones bending in their pockets after normal day-to-day usage. The issue — informally known as “Bendgate” — became widespread after a video test revealed it does not take much force to cause a slight curvature in the device.
iPhone 6 Plus bend test by Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy
Apple later commented that an iPhone 6 Plus bending under normal use is “extremely rare,” adding that it had received only nine complaints from customers about the issue at the time. The company said the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus feature a “precision engineered unibody enclosure” constructed from 6000 series anodized aluminum and “stainless steel and titanium inserts to reinforce high stress locations” on the devices.
Nevertheless, it appears that Apple engineers have tweaked the design of the so-called “iPhone 6s” by strengthening the weak points of the smartphone’s rear shell. A new YouTube video shared by Unbox Therapy shows that the areas around the Home button and power buttons on the “iPhone 6s” appear to be notably thicker — 1.9mm versus 1.14mm — suggesting that Apple’s next iPhones could be less susceptible to bending under normal usage.
Interestingly, the video shows that the “iPhone 6s” rear shell is also slightly lighter, despite having a thicker shell at certain weak points. The purported “iPhone 6s” rear shell weighs in at 25 grams, compared to 27 grams for the iPhone 6 rear shell, suggesting that Apple could be using a new material such as the rumored 7000 Series anodized aluminum for its next-generation smartphones.
Huawei’s Back to School promotion is here, get $25 off any smartphone or tablet
Huawei is running a Back to School program, offering students $25 off of one of its smartphones in addition a package full of goodies. Google and Apple have also recently launched their own annual Back to School programs too.
Keep in mind that Huawei’s Back to School promo only lasts until August 15. The $25 the company is offering off a smartphone isn’t much, however, if you purchase one by August 15, Huawei will throw in a free Bluetooth speaker, a Net 10 SIM card, and a $50 time card, which gives you 30 days of free calls, text, and data.
Keep in mind that the unlimited data is only high-speed up 3GB. It throttles to 64KBp/s thereafter.
Between the discount on the Huawei device, the Bluetooth Speaker, and the free month of cell service, you get a total of $175 in savings. Just head on over to Huawei’s own online store, and enter the promo code BACK2SCHOOLHW for your savings and free goodies.
source: Huawei
Come comment on this article: Huawei’s Back to School promotion is here, get $25 off any smartphone or tablet
American Express Introduces Apple Pay Support for Corporate Cards in the United States
American Express today announced that the company is the first to introduce corporate credit card support with Apple Pay. The new addition will let customers pay at locations and within apps that support the contactless payments service with an eligible American Express corporate credit card.
“Businesses today are going digital, and American Express is at the forefront of digital innovation, helping companies to streamline their payments systems and simplify their processes,” said Greg Keeley, Executive Vice President, Global Corporate Payments, American Express. “We continue to invest and expand digital offerings for our corporate customers in ways that maximize security and enhance the user experience.”
All corporate cards that will work with Apple Pay include: American Express Corporate Green Card; American Express Corporate Gold Card; American Express Corporate Platinum Card; American Express Corporate Centurion Card; American Express/Business Extra Corporate Card; and the American Express Corporate Defined Expense Program Corporate Card. Apple Pay has been expanding ever since its launch last October, with more retailers and financial institutions debuting support for the service as time goes on.
‘iPhone 6s’ and iPhone 6 Displays Compared in New Video
MacManiack, a reseller of iPhone, iPad, and Mac parts and accessories, has shared a new video that compares a purported “iPhone 6s” display with an existing iPhone 6 display. The side-by-side comparison reveals that the displays are very similar overall, with identical dimensions and the same placement of the FaceTime camera and proximity sensor, but the front panels do have some notable differences.
The alleged “iPhone 6s” display has a new connector in the top-left corner that supports multiple rumors claiming the next-generation smartphone will be equipped with pressure-sensitive Force Touch technology. The “iPhone 6s” display also has slightly redesigned flex connectors, Touch ID is integrated in the LCD and digitizer connector, and the protective plate on the back of the LCD is glued in place.
As the launch of the so-called “iPhone 6s” and “iPhone 6s Plus” inches closer, multiple components for the upcoming smartphones have leaked from within the supply chain. Chinese phone repair company GeekBar shared three photos of an identical looking “iPhone 6s” display assembly last week, while photos of the device’s purported rear shell, logic board, battery, and more parts have also surfaced.
Cardiovascular health app is the UK’s first ResearchKit project
One of the first health apps built with Apple’s ResearchKit platform is now available to download outside the US. MyHeart Counts, which was first announced at Apple’s “Spring Forward” event in March, has been opened up to iPhone users in the UK and Hong Kong for the first time. Once you’ve opted in, you’ll be asked every few months to take part in a weeklong test, which includes seven days of activity monitoring, a 6-minute walk and a submission of personal risk-factor information. Stanford University will offer a review of your heart’s health in return, as well as some advice for improving general wellness, but the idea here is to make it as easy as possible to become a volunteer. ResearchKit was, after all, invented to help scientists and medical professionals conduct large-scale studies. There are over one billion iOS devices in the world, so if even a fraction of those take some time to use the app, that’s a trove of new information that will benefit medical research.
[Image Credit: AP Photo/Eric Risberg]
Filed under:
Cellphones, Apple
Via:
Wired
Source:
Stanford University
Tags: apple, cardiovascular, fitness, health, heart, medicine, myheartcounts, researchkit, stanforduniversity
iPad Mini 4 Again Rumored to Be Smaller Version of iPad Air 2 in New Design Renders
The upcoming iPad mini 4 will be the smallest the line-up has seen, equivalent to a miniaturized version of the iPad Air 2, according to a new design render video shared by uSwitch and Nowhereelse.fr‘s OnLeaks channel. The render gives the iPad mini 4 a thickness of 6.1mm, the same as the iPad Air 2, and less than the current 7.5mm thickness of the iPad mini 3.
The design render video backs up a part of a previous rumor that claimed the next iPad mini would adopt the slimmer form factor of the current line-up of iPad Air models, alongside the Air’s 8-megapixel rear-facing iSight camera and a fully laminated display with anti-reflective coating. Today’s report gives no news on the iPad mini 4’s internal upgrades, nor its camera or display changes, but Apple will undoubtedly aim to make the new generation of mini a bit more substantial than the simple addition of Touch ID that was introduced with last year’s model.
Apple is expected to reveal the new line-up of iPads at the next major company keynote, rumored as of now to be taking place on September 9. Alongside the iPad mini and iPad Air, the company is likely to showcase the so-called “iPhone 6s” and “iPhone 6s Plus” at the event, and possibly even finally reveal the next-generation Apple TV set-top box.
Android vulnerability can lead to stolen fingerprints “in a large scale”
Biometric security is on the rise as more manufacturers adopt advanced security systems. The most popular method is the use of fingerprint sensors, a technique that has proven to be among the most secure and accurate. But is it really the safest authentication technique?
According to researchers Tao Wei and Yulong Zhang, from FireEye, there is a significant vulnerability in Android devices with fingerprint sensors, which can lead to mass fingerprint data theft.
This research was to be announced at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, and it’s said to include four methods hackers can use for stealing fingerprints. One of them is particularly worrisome. It is named the ‘fingerprint sensor spying attack’, and it can remotely steal fingerprint data “in a large scale”.
The attack has been confirmed on two popular smartphones – the HTC One Max and the Samsung Galaxy S5. This is not an isolated issue, though. It seems this is a problem that affects most Android smartphones with a fingerprint sensor, especially the popular ones from Samsung, HTC and Huawei.
The issue lies on the fact that most of these sensors are not fully protected on both a root and system level. Yulong Zhang goes on to mention that Apple’s iPhone is actually more secure, as it encrypts data from the scanner. Even if a hacker gains access to the reader, he would not be able to obtain a clean fingerprint image.
This news is especially bad right now, as we finally start to get over the Stagefright pandemonium. And an attack on this biometric information would be critical, because fingerprints are something that lasts a lifetime. Hackers would be able to harm you for an indefinite period of time.
It’s said affected manufacturers have patched the vulnerability by now, so you don’t have much to worry about now. But the issue does continue to have relevance for future security concerns. As devices become more secure, we tend to trust them with more personal information and private data. This means that when we do get attacked, the results will be more significant.
Those who want to read all the details can take a look at the presentation slide show and research paper. There’s more than enough details there, so have at it!
What do you think? Should we trust our devices with our biometric data? Should we just dump these systems and stick to our antiquated PINs and passwords?
EU finds that Apple and labels didn’t conspire to end free music
Apple Music is facing its fair share of scrutiny over concerns of possible anti-competitive behavior, but it’s not going to get that much flak from Europe. According to both Mlex and Recode‘s sources, the European Commission has found no evidence that Apple or major music labels conspired to stifle free music services like Spotify. While the regulator is going to keep its eye on the music market as Spotify renews its label deals, it’s now doubtful that you’ll see a repeat of the EU’s crackdown on e-book pricing.
Not that Apple is entirely off the hook. Like the US Federal Trade Commission, the EU is investigating whether or not Apple’s App Store policies unfairly hurt competing music providers — and it may well have a stronger case. If you’ll recall, Apple both asks for a 30 percent cut of revenue from subscription services and prevents those services from steering customers to other places to sign up. Unless you’re astute enough to sign up on the web, streaming outfits have to either charge you extra for their App Store subscriptions or watch their profit margins disappear. There’s a real chance that the Commission will tell Apple to reduce its revenue share, allow links to external sign-ups, or both.
Source:
Recode
Tags: apple, applemusic, eu, europeancommission, europeanunion, internet, law, music, regulation, streaming
How to Download Beats 1 Playlists for Offline Listening
Now that you’ve been testing out Apple Music for about a month, you’ve probably come across some questions about what else you can do with the streaming music service. We sure have.
If you are a fan of Beats 1 but don’t want to use up your data listening to Zane Lowe’s voice on your commute to work everyday, you can download the playlist from your favorite deejays and listen to their chosen tunes offline for as long as you wish.
You can’t listen to Beats 1 live in offline mode, but you can access playlists from a deejay’s previous radio show similar to the way you would access cable movies and television shows on-demand.
Step 1: Find a Deejay
The first thing you will need to do is find the deejay playlist you wish to listen to. If you want to find out whom Elton John is listening to, or think Julie Adenuga plays the songs you want to hear, you can find their Beats 1 playlists on their Apple Connect pages by performing a quick search in iTunes while in the Radio tab.
The search will usually turn up “X on Beats 1″ where X is the name of the deejay. Select that result to see a list of the deejay’s playlists. Tracks will be listed by date, so you can easily find the most recent radio show, or even start from the beginning.
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