Best Gifts for Cord-cutters
What are good gifts for someone who’s cut cable out of their life?
The cord-cutter movement is growing more and more these days. People are looking to save money by cancelling that pesky cable bill and finding alternative ways to fulfill their entertainment needs via internet and/or wireless needs.
Netflix. Plex. Over-the-air antennas. Just a few of the options cord-cutters rely on to stay entertained without cable TV. Give the gift of cutting that special someone’s cable bill with these fantastic gifts for cord-cutters.
OTA Antennas
If you or someone you know is looking to cut out the cable bill from their budget, but still enjoys just throwing on the TV and vegging out without the hassle of finding something new to watch on Netflix (right?), an over-the-air (OTA) antenna can be a great compromise. But before you consider whether to buy an OTA antenna, you’ll want to know what channels are available in your area and what type of antenna you’ll need to draw them in. This TV signal locator from TVFools.com will let you know what signals are available from you or your giftee’s address, and from there let you determine whether you should be getting an indoor or outdoor antenna.
An OTA antenna can be hooked up straight to a TV in your house to watch live TV. A couple of the other items on this list require a OTA antenna — HDHomeRun Connect and TiVo Roamio. If either of those boxes tickles your fancy, you’ll need one to draw in the signal. Depending on what channels are available in your area, you’ll need either an indoor or outdoor digital antenna. The antenna we’ve recommended here, the HD Frequency Cable Cutter Antenna, is designed for urban areas, and can be set up indoors or outdoors. Again, the channels you’ll get will be dependant on a number of variables, so the price of this antenna makes it great for testing purposes.
See at Amazon
HDHomeRun Connect
The HDHomeRun Connect is a HDTV broadcast tuner that, working in conjunction with an OTA antenna, lets you draw in the available HDTV channels broadcasting in your area. Setup is easy — simply connect your HDHomeRun box to power, the antenna, and your router, then install the software on your computer. From there, you’re able to watch live TV from the available channels shows on any DLNA-compatible device connected to your Wi-Fi network, whether that be a smart TV, a phone or tablet running the HDHomeRun DVR app.
But that’s not all. What makes the HDHomeRun a real home run (I’m sorry) is its beta DVR compatibility with Plex. Anyone in the know knows that Plex is one of the absolute best media servers you can use, so if you know your friend or family member relies on Plex this exclusive integration with HDHomeRun receivers is certainly worth exploring.
See at Amazon
TiVo Roamio
TiVo’s Roamia is certainly worth looking into if you’re cutting a cord and considering an OTA antenna. The Roamia comes with 1TB of space to record all your favorite shows as well as built-in integration with Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video, Hulu and more.
It’s a TiVo, so you’ll be able to pause and rewind TV live, as well as use SkipMode to skip over the commercials in your recorded content, or use QuickMode to watch your shows 33% faster with no audio distortion, meaning you can binge watch your favorite shows in less time.
See at Amazon
Chromecast
Once you get your first Chromecast, you quickly learn that you can never have too many Chromecasts. It’s such a versatile little device that lets you stream Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video, Hulu, YouTube, HBO Now… There’s a ton of great content available for Chromecast.
This year, Google introduced the Chromecast Ultra, which supports 4K TVs if you already have one or are planning on upgrading. If not, the Chromecast from 2015 is still a completely capable little device, and you really can’t beat the value here. And like I said, once you’ve got a Chromecast on one of your TV’s, you’re going to want to have one for every TV in the house.
See the Chromecast (2015) at Google
See the Chromecast Ultra at Google
Nvidia Shield
The NVIDIA Shield doesn’t garner as much attention as it deserves — it’s a sleek-looking box running on the Android TV platform, granting access to all the great content streaming and media options found in the Google Play Store, along with being a scrappy gaming console powered by a GeForce GTX graphics card.
It can stream Netflix and YouTube in 4K, and supports a number of great media server apps including Plex and Kodi. If you’re only planning to use it for streaming purposes, you’ll get 16GB of onboard storage for your media, along with a streamlined and fast UI so you can get right down to binge watching PLUS it doubles as a Cast target.
If you’re also interested in what it can do for gaming, you’ll be able to enjoy the latest and greatest Android games, along with the ability to stream popular PC games via a GeForce NOW subscription.
See at Amazon
Gift memberships to streaming services
Netflix. Amazon Prime. Hulu.
These are the services that are largely replacing cable TV for an ever-growing number of consumers. Whether or not your loved one already has one of these services, you can cover a few months of their favorite streaming service for a gift that keeps giving throughout the year.
Your best value is absolutely a year’s worth of Amazon Prime. Not only do they get access to both Amazon’s music and video services, they also get all the benefits of being an Amazon Prime including next-day delivery on a number of products.
Both Netflix and Amazon Prime offer electronic gift cards for their services, but you should also be able to find them at a most major retailers. Hulu currently doesn’t offer electronic gift cards, but you should find physical Hulu gift cards at retailers such as Target, Best Buy, and Walmart.
Learn more at Amazon
Learn more at Netflix
This awesome photo leak shows a forthcoming 2017 Moto handset
Clear images have surfaced online purporting to be the 2017 Motorola Moto X smartphone. The images have been taken by an “anonymous tipster” and picked up by Techdroider and clearly show a future Moto smartphone.
The pictures show the phone will come with an all metal build, but the lack of connector pins for Moto Mods confirms it’s not a handset that offers modularity like the flagship Moto Z device.
- Motorola Moto Z review: A modular muddle
Although the images are fairly clear, it’s obvious that some details have been removed, probably codes that identify this handset as a prototype, and potentially the exact sample number.
What’s not clear is which family this device would belong to. As we’ve said, it’s not following the same lines as the Moto Z (where we’d expect modularity to continue), so it could be a Moto X or a Moto G, although the metal build would suggest it falls into a higher tier than the often entry-level G.
For now all we have to go on for the new Moto device is these pictures, as no specs or features have been revealed. It’s estimated to have a 5.5-inch display, something that Lenovo said was a minimum size for future handsets, while a front-mounted fingerprint scanner can be seen in the images. Reportedly, it’s going to be available in silver or gold.
It’s not clear when Lenovo/Motorola will officially unveil this new handset, an obvious guess would be Mobile World Congress in February, but for now all we can say is watch this space.
ICYMI: A new form of whale communication, found
Today on In Case You Missed It: A new Marine Mammal Science publication found that humpback whales slap the surface of the water to communicate with one another, although what they’re actually saying is still a mystery. Meanwhile MIT’s CSAIL lab created a CAD-like program to create UAVS. The best part of the software is testing it virtually to see if your creation would fly in real life.
The Tesla Coil video by SmarterEveryDay is pretty great and for fun, you may want to watch the Turkish satellite heading up to space. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
All Sonos owners can now use Spotify to control their speakers
Sonos announced back in August that it would allow Spotify users to control their music through the streaming service’s app instead of having to use its own software. The feature rolled out to members of the speaker company’s beta trial in early November, but now it’s available to all. If you’re a Spotify Premium subscriber, you don’t have to use the Sonos Controller app to play tunes. Spotify Connect will allow you to select your Sonos gear from the Devices menu.
I’ve been using the direct play tool for several weeks now as part of the beta and it makes a huge difference in the overall Sonos experience. The Sonos Controller app works just fine, but being able to stay inside the Spotify interface that I use multiple times a day is a massive improvement. If you’re worried you won’t be able to group speakers you have in separate rooms, don’t fret: that feature is available in Spotify, too. Any connected Sonos gear you have shows up in the Devices menu so you can jump from speakers to headphones with a tap. And yes, the Spotify Connect integration is available on both desktop and mobile.
You also don’t have to worry about replacing the queue or choosing “Play Now” when you want to jump to another album or playlist. Just tap a song like you would while in your car or on your computer and it starts playing. When friends come over, they’ll be able to play songs directly through the Spotify app as well. Trust me, if you’re a Spotify user and a Sonos owner, the ability to play songs directly though the latter’s app will be a welcome change.
Zynga back in court over alleged insider trading
Social game developer Zynga is being dragged back into a lawsuit that claims select board members acted unfairly on inside information by selling shares before a stock price tumble in 2012. As Reuters reports, the Delaware Supreme Court is reviving a case that alleges co-founder Mark Pincus, and a group of his fellow board members, were aware of the company’s lacklustre performance. It’s said that Zynga had a rule prohibiting stock sales until three days after an earnings report. Those who stand accused were given an exemption, however, and sold 20.3 million shares for $236.7 million three weeks before the announcement.
That’s roughly $12 per share. Following the less than stellar results, Zynga’s stock price dropped to $8.52 per share. (It now rests at $2.95 per share, far below the highs of 2012.) The lawsuit by shareholder Thomas Sandys, who originally filed in 2014, has been re-opened because of a procedural hurdle re-examined by the Supreme Court. As Reuters explains, the Court of Chancery dismissed the case in February because Sandys was unable to prove that the majority of the board was too conflicted to bring the lawsuit. That might sound like a technicality, but it’s important because Sandys is suing on behalf of Zynga, through a method called derivative action.
In its review, the Court found six board directors were not impartial, rather than three. Should the case go forward and any settlement be made, the money will reportedly go to Zynga, rather than shareholders directly.
Zynga’s troubles stretch far beyond the courts, however. For years, the company has struggled to replicate the success of its Facebook behemoth Farmville on mobile. It’s tried buying popular apps, such as Words with Friends in 2010 and Draw Something in 2012, but nothing has changed its trajectory. The situation has fuelled a chief executive merry-go-round, starting with the appointment of former Microsoft executive Don Mattrick in 2013. He was replaced by Pincus in 2015, who made way for Frank Gibeau in March this year. As before, it’s looking for a hit with the staying power to boost its revenues and make it a gaming giant once more.
Source: Reuters
Instagram finally lets users disable comments on posts
In recent months, Instagram has finally stated rolling out tools that let users combat abuse. First, Instagram added the ability to block specific words from your comments, and today it is adding a host of other tools to keep trolls out of your account. The company says all the new features will be available in the coming weeks. First up is a tool that’ll let you remove comments entirely from your posts. When creating a new Instagram post, you’ll find an “advanced settings” menu where you can turn off comments for that image. You can also reverse course and turn commenting back on if you so choose. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like you can shut off comments globally in your account; hopefully Instagram will add that option next.
Instagram isn’t just shutting down comments, though — it’s also adding the ability to “heart” a specific comment in the hopes that it’ll “show support” for users and “encourage positively throughout the community.” Hard to say if this will make a difference, but it’s good to see Instagram proactively try and make comments a happier place.
The next new privacy feature is focused on private accounts. If you have your account set to private, you’ll have to approve new followers, like always. But now you can actively remove individual followers if you change your mind about who you let see your photos. Previously, you had to take the more aggressive move of blocking someone to get them off your followers list. Instagram says that people you remove from your private followers list won’t be notified when you flip that switch.
Lastly, there’s a new option to anonymously report what Instagram calls “self-injury” posts. If you see a post from someone you’re following that makes you worry for their well-being and think they might harm themselves, this feature lets you flag the photo for review. Instagram says it has a team working 24/7 that will then reach out to the user and connect them with resources that can offer help. It’s an interesting feature, but it also feels like something that trolls could potentially use to harass others. We’re reaching out to Instagram to see how the company plans to keep that from happening and will update this post with more details if we hear anything.
Those concerns aside, these features are most welcome — if the last year has showed us anything, it’s that online communities need to provide their users with tools to battle abuse. Without those sort of tools, users are likely to flee the platform or use it far less — so including these tools is smart for business, not just for the platform’s users. While we wish Instagram had been faster to roll out these new features, they’re still most welcome.
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Instagram
Supreme Court sides with Samsung over Apple patent penalty
The Supreme Court ruled that Samsung’s violation of design patents made by Apple can only involve components, not entire products. This could mean a severely reduced penalty that the Korean company will have to pay… and a rare bit of good news for the troubled company.
Samsung was facing a penalty of $548 million for imitating elements of the iPhone’s design — this itself was reduced from an initial charge of nearly $1 billion. However, during the company’s most recent appeal, the justices said that the patent infringement could affect just a component of the phones, like its design or appearance, rather than the sum total of the device. The Justices voted unanimously 8-0 in Samsung’s favor. Chief Justice John Roberts noted Samsung did not infringe on “all the chips and wires” during the case in October.
The case (still) isn’t over. Now it will return to a lower court to determine a recalculated portion of profits that Samsung will have to pay to Apple — something that part of the Supreme Court noted wouldn’t be easy. “The term ‘article of manufacture’ is broad enough to embrace both a product sold to a consumer and a component of that product whether sold separately or not,” Justice Sotomayor wrote.
Source: Reuters, USA Today
Apple TV Universal Search Now Includes AMC and The Hallmark Channel
Apple has added AMC and The Hallmark Channel to the universal search function on the fourth-generation Apple TV in the United States, enabling viewers to search for popular TV shows such as The Walking Dead and Better Call Saul in addition to holiday-themed programming such as Countdown to Christmas.
For those unfamiliar with universal search, it’s a feature that allows users to conduct Siri voice searches or text-based searches to find TV and movie content across a wide range of channels. At launch, universal search only supported a few channels, but Apple has been rapidly expanding the feature to encompass additional channels.
Apple TV universal search is now available for a wider number of apps in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the U.K., but the feature is limited to iTunes and Netflix in France, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden. In some other countries and regions, only movies in iTunes are supported.
Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 10
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Caution)
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Apple’s Renewed Focus on iPad Left the Mac Behind This Year
When looking at the current state of the Mac lineup, the new MacBook Pro is the only model Apple has updated over the past seven-plus months. Even the latest MacBook Pro models required a 527-day wait, which was considerably longer than the average of 320 days between previous MacBook Pro refreshes.
A glance at our own MacRumors Buyer’s Guide shows the new MacBook Pro is the only Mac currently listed with a “Buy Now” status, as all other models beyond the 12-inch MacBook have not been refreshed for significant periods of time. The longest overdue is the Mac Pro, last updated 1,084 days ago.
• iMac — 420 days ago
• MacBook Air — 638 days ago
• Mac mini — 782 days ago
• Mac Pro — 1,084 days ago
The lack of updates can be at least partially attributed to Apple having to wait on chipmakers and suppliers such as Intel, AMD, and Nvidia, each of which follow their own product roadmaps, although that cannot be the only reason given Skylake processors are now readily available for update-deprived Macs.
A lack of meaningful updates to several Macs this year impacted Apple’s bottom line, as Mac revenue has declined for four consecutive quarters year-over-year. The declines have worsened each quarter, starting with a 3% drop in Q4 2015 and progressing to a 17% drop in Q3 2016, according to Strategy Analytics.
Apple investors now await the company’s first quarter earnings results to see if the new MacBook Pro models will be able to reverse that trend.
Conversely, after several down quarters, the iPad has experienced a mostly upward trajectory over the past year, thanks largely in part to the iPad Pro’s higher average selling price. Apple’s tablet revenue is now stable on a year-over-year basis, after dipping as low as -21% one year ago.
Strategy Analytics senior analyst Eric Smith attributes the stabilizing effect to Apple’s renewed focus on iPads. He said Apple entered the 2-in-1 tablet market with the iPad Pro and Smart Keyboard right in time to renew growth and capitalize on growing enterprise demand in the future.
Recognizing that Microsoft was changing the computing device market, Smith said Apple “pretty much forgot about Mac” in order to attack the 2-in-1 tablet segment with the release of iPad Pro models over the past year.
“Apple has been a master of cannibalizing its own business before other companies do so in a major way,” Smith told MacRumors. “Apple let iPad slide until it became clear that Microsoft was changing the computing device market. It refocused on iPad with the Pro series and pretty much forgot about Mac to attack the 2-in-1 segment.”
Apple’s move was rather effective, as iPad market share has stabilized at 22% over the past two years after declining for the previous four years. But it would seem it took a change in stance to get there as, in the past, Apple essentially dismissed the idea of releasing a tablet-notebook hybrid.
During a 2012 earnings call, when asked to comment on why the MacBook Air and iPad would not eventually converge, Apple CEO Tim Cook argued that combining the products would result in compromises. “You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator but those won’t be pleasing to the user,” he said.
By contrast, earlier this year Apple released a TV ad called “What’s a Computer?” that positions the iPad Pro as a computer. “Imagine what your computer could do if your computer was an iPad Pro,” the tagline concludes.
Likewise, Cook said the iPad Pro is a notebook or desktop computer replacement for many people. “They will start using it and conclude they no longer need to use anything else, other than their phones,” he added. “I think if you’re looking at a PC, why would you buy a PC anymore? No really, why would you buy one?”
In the post-PC era, it is perhaps unsurprising that Apple’s attention has shifted more towards the iPhone—and by extension, the iPad. But many faithful customers are hoping Apple will eventually turn its sights back to the Mac, following what some critics believe was a disappointing MacBook Pro update amid an aging lineup of Macs.
Rumors suggest Apple will launch new iMacs in the first six months of 2017, and at least one model is said to include an option for new AMD graphics chips. The roadmap for other Macs remains less clear.
Related Roundups: iMac, Mac Pro, Mac mini, MacBook Pro, iPad Pro
Tag: Strategy Analytics
Buyer’s Guide: iMac (Don’t Buy), Mac Pro (Don’t Buy), Mac Mini (Don’t Buy), MacBook Pro (Buy Now), 12.9″ iPad Pro (Caution)
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Uber Faces Negative Reactions After Update Introduces Background GPS Tracking
A recent update to ride-hailing app Uber is generating a negative reaction online, with customers concerned over the company’s decision to track their location “from the time of trip request through five minutes after the trip ends,” no matter if the app is open or not. The only option now available for users to negate the background tracking of their location is to go into iOS Settings > Privacy > Location Services and opt-in to “Never” allow Uber location access through the iPhone.
With no middle ground option of only tracking when the app is open, privacy advocates at the Electronic Frontier Foundation speaking with BuzzFeed News are now asking Uber to reintroduce such an option in the ride-hailing app. Uber said that tracking users five minutes after they leave their ride provides data that could improve the app’s services, including whether or not customers are dropped off on the opposite side of the street of their destination, making them walk through traffic in the minutes after a ride.
The new @Uber app tracks you for FIVE minutes after you get dropped off without the ability to opt out. pic.twitter.com/A9JOLj8dUn
— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) December 5, 2016
Deputy executive director and general counsel at EFF, Kurt Opsahl, said that some people will “have very legitimate reasons” why they would want to opt out of such tracking services. He also noted that Uber’s solution — turning Location Services off — harms the usability of the app, which uses GPS to automatically send a user’s location to a driver for pick-up. If users want to stay secure and turn off tracking, they have to input their location manually.
“Tracking you five minutes after you have been dropped off — some people might have very legitimate reasons why they don’t want a record about that,” Opsahl said. “They may be concerned about getting into some database about their location and may get dropped off across the street. It’s sad to take that away.”
Opsahl noted that the conversations with Uber are ongoing, but he and the EFF remain hopeful that the app will return to an option where user location will only be tracked when the app is open. Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union, is also watching the events surrounding the update, and sees it as a potentially scary first step to even more invasive location gathering updates.
“If Uber wants to make a case to its customers that they stand to benefit from additional uses of data, it should make that case and let customers opt in,” [Stanley] said. “The five-minute thing is disturbing. Obviously that’s not 24/7 tracking, but they are reserving themselves the ability to do that, which is even scarier.”
For Uber, a company spokeswoman told BuzzFeed News that one of the biggest advantages of the five minute tracking update is that it “could also help customer service representatives investigate complaints or safety issues” raised by users following a ride. For now, the company has not indicated that it will roll back the update.
Tag: Uber
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