Best Chromebook apps
Make the most of your Chromebook with these apps.
Your Chromebook is a safe, inexpensive, and simple portal the internet but it can do so much more. Whether you want to get productive, have a little fun or keep in touch you’ll find an app to help do it in the Chrome Web Store. Here’s the short — and ever-changing — list of ones we think you have to try.
- Polarr Photo Editor
- Skype
- Any.do
- Office Online
- StreamDor
Polarr Photo Editor
One area where Chromebooks have traditionally been lacking is media creation tools. Photoshop for Chrome is a real thing, but it requires you to have an Adobe education license for Creative Cloud and live in North America. If you meet these qualifications you should definitely have a look, but for the rest of us, there is Polarr Photo Editor.
Polarr is beautifully done, filled with features and is extremely lightweight. It’s an offline app sp you can work without an internet connection and it’s the best way to edit photographs on your Chromebook. Whether you need to turn RAW files into great photos or just touch up something before you share it on Facebook, Polarr Photo Editor can handle the job.
See at the Chrome Web Store
Skype
We’re cheating a little bit here, but access to Skype is important enough to allow it.
Skype on the web now supports text chat and phones calls using standard internet communication protocols — that means it works on your Chromebook.
There are many different communication apps available — including Google’s own Hangouts — but for many Skype is the de facto standard. Using your Skype account and Microsoft’s official website, all you need to do is log and start Skyping.
For those who want it, there are also several launchers at the Chrome Web Store that let you launch the Skype site in its own window through an icon, but we think a bookmark is just as good.
Skype Online
Any.do
Any.do is one of the best ways to stay organized. It’s a task manager, reminder list, calendar, and organizer all in one and it syncs across all your devices. It’s also quite the looker!
Using the Any.do app for Chrome gives you the same tools and features as the client for your phone (Android and iOS) does plus the ability to drag and drop attachments, notes, and tasks using your Chromebook’s trackpad. Any.do is scalable and great for keeping track of a few reminders or as a complete organization tool for your entire team.
See at the Chrome Web Store
Office Online
Your Chromebook gives you access to everything Google Docs has to offer. While that’s more than enough productivity for some of us, if you work in a Microsoft environment Office Online is a must-have.
Using the same subscription you hold for the full version of Office for Windows or Mac, you get access to all the tools and features using your Microsoft account. You can view, edit and create files in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Sway right from your Chromebook and synchronization with your OneDrive account means they are accessible anywhere. You can also work locally when you’re not connected to the internet.
If you’re a Microsoft Office user, Office Online is a no-brainer.
See at the Chrome Web Store
StreamDor
No list of great Chrome apps would be complete without StreamDor.
The internet is huge, and it’s filled with awesome content if you know where to find it. StreamDor is a list of 20,000 movies that you can stream for free. Everything is legal and above the board, and there’s no funny stuff going on.
The list is refreshed daily and you’ll find old favorites as well as recent hits at high quality from sites like YouTube or Vimeo. While StreamDor doesn’t serve any content themselves, the app is the perfect way to find it all in one place. It’s free and a great way to relax during some down time.
See at the Chrome Web Store
ICYMI: Wearable robots will walk all over you
Today on In Case You Missed It: MIT and Stanford researchers created tiny robots that can grab onto clothes and walk on your shirt, with the goal of them one day, forming a swarm to create a temporary video screen and then marching back into a pocket, putting themselves away. Meanwhile Japanese scientists were able to create mice offspring from skin cells of adult mice. They’re testing the method next with primates, so this is going to get even weirder.
In TL;DR, we’re rounding up some of the biggest headlines from the week and we think it’s particularly interesting to note how much money technology companies now spend on lobbying in Washington, D.C. (And share it with your friend who still thinks tech and politics aren’t related.) Also if you need to send that smoking Samsung video to someone stat, the original video is here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
The Morning After: Weekend Edition
Letter from the Editor
Welcome to the very first edition of The Morning After, Engadget’s revamped newsletter. First, I’d like to congratulate you for subscribing to what is undoubtedly the greatest newsletter you’ll ever read. Thanks are also in order for giving us some of your precious inbox real estate each day. You’re hearing from me, Editor in Chief Michael Gorman, because this is the Weekend Edition — in which I’ll be putting context around the most interesting and important stories we published over the past week. Come Monday at 6 AM ET, and every weekday after, the daily version will hit your inbox with summaries of the biggest stories from the previous day, delivered with Engadget’s trademark wit and insight. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s dive into the week that was…
Odds are you woke up to many of your favorite websites being nonfunctional on Friday, and you can thank the Internet of Things for the inconvenience. We’ve been sounding the alarm about the inadequate (and nonexistent) security of the IoT for some time now, and yesterday’s attacks — using a bunch of hijacked connected things to shut down one of the internet’s biggest domain name servers — shows just how dangerous that lack of security can be. It’s not hard to imagine a day when the entire internet is brought to its knees by a bunch of smart bulbs, DVRs and security cameras. While the perpetrator in this isn’t believed to be governmental, you may be surprised at who’s doing the hacking next time. In her latest column, Violet Blue says we’re in a new cold war with Russia, only now it’s about the threat of cyber war, not nuclear — and our sitting president can be counted among its victims after Putin’s people hacked Obama’s personal email account.
Of course, it’s not all doom and gloom this week, as gamers got some great news. Nintendo finally revealed its next console, the Switch, and the Engadget team has some strong (mostly positive) feelings about it. As is Nintendo’s way, when the rest of the industry zigs, it zags, and the Switch is no exception. While Sony and Microsoft’s recent efforts focus on more graphically powerful yet mostly traditional hardware, Nintendo’s newest offers something completely different: a home console that turns into a mobile one. We won’t know how good it is until its release in March, but as a child of the ’80s and ’90s within whom powerful Nintendo nostalgia resides, my interest is piqued. Nintendo could have another Wii-esque hit on its hands.
What happens when Google entirely designs its own smartphone?Review: Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones
After years of Nexus-themed experiments, Google’s made two great smartphones that — sadly — look a little dull. Both Pixels work as showcases for Google’s software and online service chops, and that’s where they truly shine, with an excellent camera and snappy performance thrown in for good measure. If only they were a little cheaper — and water-resistant.
‘sWiitch’ was right there for the takingNintendo’s new video-game system is here: Meet Switch
The console/handheld’s first trailer shows off some grown-up-looking hardware with no lack of peripherals and play use cases. What games are coming at launch? Well, there will be a Zelda game. How much? No idea. When? March 2017.
An Autopilot in every TeslaTesla doesn’t build cars without self-driving hardware
Thursday, Tesla said every new car it builds will be capable of driving itself without human intervention, and a new demo video shows what that looks like. With only the lightest touch to the steering wheel from its human “driver,” a Model X goes from home to office, then parks itself. Other than a few odd gaffes in the parking lot, it’s pretty impressive stuff, but even without any more hysteria-inducing accidents, it could be a while before regulations catch up with the technology.
No more keyboardsReview: Lenovo’s Yoga Book swaps the keyboard for a huge digitizer
You can’t fault Lenovo for trying something very different. Its Yoga Book does away with the keyboard altogether, swapping it for a touch-sensitive surface that pulls double duty as both keyboard and digital sketchpad. It’ll even magically pull your real-paper scribbles into the digital world. As you might guess, however, the typing experience is atrocious on the flat slate. It’s novel, but the Yoga Book isn’t reliable enough to be the go-to productivity machine.
Have you tried turning it off and on again?Your security camera is screwing up the internet
For much of Friday, internet services like Twitter, Spotify and Reddit were inaccessible, because of a DDoS attack on their DNS provider, Dyn. Not sure what those words mean? Allow us to explain the day the internet fell apart, and why the real culprit is the Internet of Things.
Not-quite-4K is still OK?Mark Cerny explains the strategy behind the PS4 Pro
If you still need to be sold on Sony’s upgraded PlayStation 4, take a look at our talk with its architect. Mark Cerny explains how the PS4 Pro will use its extra memory (to hold background tasks), and why software tricks like checkerboard rendering will help games look better even if you don’t have a brand-new 4K TV.
It’s about timeDon’t buy a new Mac in the next two weeks
Apple finally sent out invites for an event where we expect to see some new computers. At this point, everything from the MacBook Pro to the MacBook Air is painfully out of date and in need of a refresh, if not a rethinking. Rumors suggest we’ll even see some touch-sensitive OLED strips on new MBPs, so stay tuned, and remember: Don’t buy a new computer yet!
But wait, there’s more…
- By accident, scientists found a way to turn carbon dioxide into ethanol
- WikiLeaks’ latest drop reveals Barack Obama’s personal email address
- Exoskeletons, prosthetics and implants for athletes: A robot-assisted parathletes’ championship pushed the frontier of bionics even further
Google Pixel XL’s modular components can be easily replaced
iFixit gave Google’s Pixel XL a middling repairability score of 6 out of 10 partly because its display was poorly assembled. Still, the team found a lot of modular components that can be easily replaced when they cracked Mountain View’s new flagship open. They also noted that HTC acted as the perfect silent partner, barely leaving a mark on the device despite manufacturing it for the tech giant. The only indication that HTC was involved is a logo on the XL’s battery, which you can peel off — it’s right in the middle of a tab you need to pull if you want to pop the phone’s battery out.
By the way, the Pixel XL has a 13.28 Wh battery that’s much better than the iPhone 7 Plus’ (11.1 Wh), but not as good as Samsung S7 Edge’s (13.86 Wh). If you want to see what the phone’s back-mounted fingerprint sensor, 12.3-megapixel rear camera and other notable parts look like outside the device itself, check out the full teardown process on iFixit’s website or watch the video below.
Source: iFixit
‘The Last Guardian’ is finally ready
Hold tight Fumito Ueda fans, your wait is almost over. Despite that long quiet period and even a recent six-week delay, tonight Sony Interactive exec Shuhei Yoshida tweeted that The Last Guardian has gone gold. That should put it on track for release December 6th, when everyone can adventure with a giant pet companion of their own. Not counting a Tokyo Game Show near-miss, we last experienced the successor to Ico and Shadow of the Colossus during E3 2016, and found it an “incomplete opus.” Here’s hoping the extra development time was enough to make everything just right.
I’ve waited a very long time to say this… The Last Guardian has gone gold! I’m so excited for you all to finally experience it ˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖
— Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) October 22, 2016
7年間お待たせしました。『人喰いの大鷲トリコ』が完成しました。12月6日にぜひお楽しみください。
— Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) October 22, 2016
Source: Shuhei Yoshida (Twitter)
Nintendo Switch won’t play Wii U discs and 3DS cartridges
Nintendo might have crushed some fans’ dreams with its Famitsu interview. The company told the popular Japanese gaming magazine that its upcoming hybrid console won’t be able to play Wii U discs or 3DS cartridges. It’s unclear if the Switch won’t be able to run digital games either, but if you were hoping to play your favorite 3DS titles on a 50-inch screen just for the heck of it, you may want to temper your expectations.
The gaming titan also clarified that the Switch is a brand new platform and not a direct successor to either the Wii U or the 3DS. According to a Reddit thread, someone asked a representative during the Nintendo Investor Relations’ Q&A if the console is replacing the 3DS. The rep reportedly answered that the company is still considering releasing a separate 3DS successor at a later date.*
Nintendo might have been merely trying to cover all the bases. By saying the Switch is not a direct 3DS successor, the company can release one without losing face if the hybrid ends up flopping like the Wii U. But it could also be seriously considering a new standalone handheld console, which is fantastic news for those immune to the hybrid’s charms.
*Update: This article stated earlier that the rep said Nintendo has plans to release a 3DS successor. However, Engadget’s Japan Editor (Mat Smith) said his answer’s exact translation is “We’re still considering a separate successor to the 3DS.” We can’t confirm the identity of Reddit’s source, however, and Nintendo still hasn’t gotten back to us with more details about the console, so take this with a grain of salt.
Source: Famitsu
Instagram is testing Live videos
A Russian publication has spotted an experimental Instagram feature it obviously got its from parent corporation’s repertoire: live videos. One of T Journal’s readers sent in screenshots and a video of a curious icon lined up with Instagram Stories on top that’s clearly marked “Live.” It led to a “popular live broadcasts” page, but it refused to load — not surprising since the company hasn’t even officially announced the feature yet. T Journal also posted a screenshot of the app’s camera screen that says “Go Insta!” at the bottom, which we’re assuming starts a live broadcast.
Facebook, Instagram’s overlord, launched Live videos to the masses back in January following Periscope’s and Meerkat’s success. While Meerkat had to shut down after being eclipsed by Periscope, Facebook’s Live videos continue to thrive. It makes sense for the mega-social network to bring the capability to its popular photo app, but at this point, it’s still unclear if and when it’ll get a wider release. Those hoping and wishing to get an early glimpse of Instagram Live, though, take note: T Journal’s reader was using a Nexus 6P.
Via: The Verge
Source: TJournal
Google’s redefined privacy policy lets ads follow you everywhere
In 2007, Google bought online advertising network Doubleclick with the assurance that they would prioritize user privacy as they developed new ad products. They’ve kept that promise, dividing their massive database of web browsing data from the personal info collected from Gmail and other parts of its product suite. Until last summer. That’s when the search giant quietly asked account owners to opt-in to sharing more data, an oblique request for permission to bundle user browser activity with personally-identifying information to better cater ads. In essence, signing up lets Google’s ads know who you are no matter where you go across different devices.
That means DoubleClick ads following users from site to site can further cater to them based on whatever information they entered in Gmail. Google can build a complete profile, tying names and email details to browsing habits and search attempts, providing ads that are minutely suited.
New Google accounts are automatically opted in to this level of data sharing, while existing users were asked if they’d opt-in to “receive new features for your Google account.” Thus far, that’s just led to more closely-tailored ads and the ability to view activity tied to your account across multiple devices — in other words, getting a much more detailed user history.
Google insists that they had adjusted their ad policy to adapt to the smartphone era. In a statement provided to ProPublica, a spokesperson said that opting in lets Google deliver much more precisely-catered ads to users based on their activity across all their devices. Which seems harmless enough: Opt-in if that sounds like your fancy.
To be fair, users who have opted in to share their data with Google can opt out at any time. They can find the opt in/out toggle by selecting “My Account” from the tile menu on any logged-in Google page, then clicking “Ad Settings” under the “Personal info and privacy” tab. Google has even helpfully highlighted the changes made to their privacy policy since the June policy change. The new settings usefully gathered a lot of previously-scattered privacy toggles into one place, as we noted at the time.
The issue lies in crossing the streams of your personal data and your activity, which is, if users opt out, properly anonymized. Google’s DoubleClick serves you ads that match what you do, but not who you are, or what your other accounts on other devices have done. Even being able to opt-in is a violation of privacy, advocates maintain, and combining those data pots endangers user ability to stay anonymous on the internet.
What they fear is encroachment as tech giants renege on promises, even ones they made a decade ago. It’s the same outrage they had back in August when WhatsApp announced they would be forking over personalized user data to parent company Facebook, breaking their promise to users they made when getting acquired. At least Google is allowing account holders to select whether they keep their personal data separate from that collected when they roam around the search giant’s other products.
Source: ProPublica
Now LG is planning to abandon modules with new G6 phone
It seems like modular phones aren’t the future of smartphone technology.
Google abandoned its Project Ara modular initiative earlier this year, and according to the report from Korea’s Electronic Times, LG plans to do the same with its G5 strategy. The modular G5 was not as successful as LG had hoped. The company had big plans, launching it with a handful of modules, along with the promise of a fuller ecosystem. But the phone wasn’t well received.
- LG G5 review: Modular misfire?
One of the major complaints was the inability to hot swap some modules, which is what happens when you try to remove a component, but doing so interrupts operation of the phone. By June, it became apparent the phone wasn’t doing well, and then in September, Google cancelled Project Ara. Does nobody want a modular phone? The idea seemed interesting, but it failed to catch on.
Keep in mind Lenovo and Motorola still offer the Moto Z, which offers snap on extensions such as an extra battery, projector, and a speaker. It’ll be interesting to see if the Moto Z continues to be developed into a full ecosystem. As for that promised G5 ecosystem, it’s now being reported that next year’s LG G6 will not feature modular components.
That means LG G5 owners shouldn’t expect new modules (aka “friends”).
Farewell, module smartphones. We hardly knew ye.
Reebok Liquid Speed shoes use 3D drawing for a better fit
We’ve seen a number of limited release shoes built using 3D printing, but now Reebok is coming in with its own attempt to rethink the traditional molding process. Reebok’s Liquid Factory draws the frame of these shoes in three dimensions, using a special “high rebound” liquid created by BASF. According to Head of Future Bill McInnis, this helps “create the first ever energy-return outsole, which performs dramatically better than a typical rubber outsole.” Also, the Liquid Speed’s winged frame wraps up and over the shoe, making for a tighter fit in all directions.
The process used to make the shoes is proprietary, designed in a collaboration between Reebok BASF and Rampf Group in Michigan, while final assembly of the shoes took place in Massachusetts. The shoe company says it’s opening a Liquid Factory manufacturing lab in early 2017.
While these $189 shoes are available only as a 300 pair limited run on Reebok.com and Finishline.com, it sounds like more are on the way, and soon, since as McInnis put it, “One of the most exciting things about Liquid Factory is the speed. We can create and customize the design of shoes in real time, because we’re not using molds – we’re simply programming a machine.”
Source: Reebok (Businesswire)
AIVAnet 