Microsoft’s Sway lets you share ideas on the web without any design skills
Sharing ideas on the web is tricky. You probably want something more persuasive than a social network update, but it’s usually overkill to design a whole web page just to get your point across. Microsoft may have reached a happy balance between the two with Sway, a new part of the Office portfolio that lets you publish content in a slick, web-native format without knowing a thing about code or design. All you do is write and pull in content, whether it comes from your device or internet sources like Facebook, OneDrive and YouTube; Sway automatically organizes it all into polished web layouts that adapt to any screen size. You can switch layouts to fine-tune your work and update projects over time. Think of this as a Medium-like authoring tool that handles much more than just articles — it’s possible to publish daily photo diaries, non-linear presentations and other pieces that would typically require a dedicated web editor or a specialized app.
Sway is launching as an invitation-only preview on the web, but Microsoft tells us that it’s going to both expand the audience and the functionality very quickly. You should expect new features every couple of weeks, with feedback playing a big role in determining what comes next. The company plans to release an iOS app soon (Windows Phone and Android are coming as well), and you’ll eventually have the option to post interactive charts and other Office 365 content. This won’t necessarily replace an elaborate PowerPoint slide deck, but it could be good enough to get your classmates or coworkers to consider proposals that they’d otherwise dismiss out of hand.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software, Mobile, Microsoft
Source: Sway, Office Blogs
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Uber for Business now automatically expenses taxis in 45 countries
The nice thing about traveling for work is that you can hop in a taxi without worrying about the cost since, after all, you’re not picking up the tab. The downside of that privilege is that, about a week or two after that, you’ll have to sit down and tediously justify your expenditure to your boss. That’s not a problem, however, if your company has signed up with Uber for Business, which sends the bills straight to the firm instead of piling on your own credit card. Until now, however, that service was only available in the US and Canada, with a few trials taking place in the UK and France. As you might have guessed from the headline, today’s the day that the company opens up Uber for Business to all of the 45 countries in which it operates. Now all we have to do is work out if we can pretend that our hand slipped and we hit the Uber Lux button by mistake.
Filed under: Transportation, Internet, Software
Source: Uber
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iPad, I choose you: ‘Pokémon’ officially hits the App Store
Remember that Pokémon iPad game that was teased not too long ago? Well, if the mere mention of it stoked a fire inside that made you want to abandon Blizzard’s Hearthstone forever, Joystiq has spotted that the pocket monster trading card game is available on the App Store now. Pokémon TCG Online is free to download, but there are a few catches. As the name suggests, it requires an internet connection to play and your Apple-branded slate needs to be of the Retina-display variety — your first- and second-gen iPads won’t cut the mustard, according to iTunes. If you’re already heavily invested in the game on OSX and Windows, Time points out that progress you’ve made in the last three years transfers over to the mobile version as well. Handy! And just like that, a Nintendo property is appearing somewhere other than on one of its own devices. Somewhere, an investor is probably smiling.
[Image Credit: Josh Wittenkeller]
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Tablets, Software, HD, Mobile, Apple, Nintendo
Via: Joystiq
Source: iTunes
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Crackdown on spying apps leads to StealthGenie CEO’s arrest
Apparently, the US government is now on a mission to bring down mobile applications offering spyware services — which, for a variety of well-documented reasons, simply seems kind of ironic. Controversy aside though, the Department of Justice revealed today that Hammad Akbar, CEO of StealthGenie, had been arrested in Los Angeles and charged with conspiracy, advertisement of a known interception device, advertising a device as a surreptitious interception device and sale of such a device. StealthGenie, which had been available on iOS, Android and BlackBerry, was known for providing an app capable of monitoring someone’s calls, texts and photos, as well as tracking their location and more. StealthGenie wasn’t shy about doing that either; a quick glance at a StealthGenie promotional video, found after the break, sums up the ideals behind the application and the consumers it targeted.
“So you want to keep an eye on your loved one or your employees, because you suspect they’re hiding something and it might get too late?” the video asks. “How do you know where they are or what they’re doing right now? Maybe they’re not really telling you the truth about their activities or whereabouts.” Eventually, after a few seconds, StealthGenie claims to be the solution for those needs: “You are worried, so you wonder if the only way to find out is to know what they do on their cellphones right away,” says the message. “You know that’s the only way to give you all the answers. What you need right now is a solution that lets you uncover the truth by secretly monitoring all the activities of your loved one or employee, and let you know their location at all times.”
As the DOJ points out in its briefing of the situation, the app was undetectable by users who were likely being spied on, which made it rather easy for StealthGenie’s creepy magic to go untraced. Interestingly enough, Akbar’s criminal case is the first one ever having to do with the advertisement and sale of a mobile spyware app — and something tells us we’re going to see more of this type as people adopt new technologies like smartphones and tablets.
“People ought to be able to control who can access their sensitive information, and stalking apps on cellphones directly violate that principle,” outspoken Sen. Al Franken said regarding StealthGenie and the arrest of its CEO. “Currently, there is no federal law banning the secret collection of location data. That’s why we need to pass my legislation to ban stalking apps once and for all.”
“My commonsense bill will help a whole range of people — including victims of domestic violence,” he said. “My bill would finally put an end to GPS stalking apps that allow abusers to secretly track their victims, and it would also give consumers more control over their very sensitive location data.”
Filed under: Internet, Software
Source: Department of Justice
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Spotify finally makes its way to Canada
The world is full of music streaming services. Some of the big names include Pandora, Google Play Music All Access, iHeartRadio, Phapsody, Slacker and Spotify. Each has its following and each has its own special little thing about it from price tag, to number of available tracks, to locale. Today Spotify has increased its to finally include our neighbors to the north, Canada.
The addition of Canada marks the 58th member to join the Spotify family. Users to the north will have the same access to over 20 million tracks on any device on their fully licensed free tier. If you rock out on mobile you get to shuffle through a variety of things where as tablets and desktops allow you to listen to anything you want. Kick it up with Sptify Premium for $10 CAD and gains the ability to download the tunes, gain full on-demand access, ditch the occasional ads and get it all in the highest quality they offer.
Feel free to pick up the free app and set up your free account to give it a whirl. Once you do, be sure to check out the O Canada! playlist that they created just for the Canadians.
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Five big features that show why the Galaxy Note Edge isn’t a total gimmick
Samsung has the money, the resources and the R&D to try things that break the traditional conventions of what we all perceive as a normal. We can toss out the words gimmick, innovation or just plain stupid all we want when it comes to a device, product or feature. In the end, it still comes down to personal preference, need and desire for something new and different. The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge is one o those devices that is just …. different. It won’t appeal to everyone, it won’t sell into the billions (I don’t think anyways), but it will offer up something different that is aimed at being useful instead of just gimmick. To help plead their case on this Samsung has put together an infograph that offers up five of the biggest features that the Note Edge brings to the table.
This certainly isn’t Samsung’s first rodeo with a second screen on the same device experience. Anyone remember the Samsung Continuum? It brought a second screen at the bottom of your primary screen and offered up quick glances at notifications and other things. It was a cool idea, just poorly executed. Then again, that was back in the Android 2.2 Froyo days. Back then Android and Samsung were still working on a direction. I am particularly interested int he Note Edge. The approach seems feasible and usable in a variety of situations and real world uses. While many of the features are achievable on any Android device, the placement of them on a curved edged that bends down the edge of the device makes them a bit more practical. I can already see the ruler coming in handy often. I am looking forward to seeing if other apps get adapted for the Edges smaller screen or not.
What are your thoughts? Are you aiming your sights on a Note 4 or giving the Note Edge some serious thought?
Source: Samsung Tomorrow via Phandroid
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Microsoft’s next OS is Windows 10, will ship later in 2015
Instead of announcing the next version of its iconic operating system in front of a massive crowd of thousands, Microsoft chose an intimate venue with 50 or so reporters to launch the new Windows, which it’s calling Windows 10. The company looks at the new number (yes, it skipped a number) as an indication of the direction it’s taking with the OS; Microsoft says it’ll be “the most comprehensive platform ever,” featuring a full range of products that’ll be placed under the Windows 10 umbrella as part of “one tailored experience.” Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore showed off an early beta version of the new Windows on stage, which looks very much like the leaked screenshots we saw not too long ago; Belfiore says that they wanted to bring the familiarity of Windows 7 and combine it with the functionality of Windows 8.
The new Windows will look very familiar if you’re used to either of the the last two versions, though Win8 users will notice that the Modern UI is nowhere to be seen at first. Instead, the series of Live Tiles can be found in the Start Menu off to the right side, with the usual Win7-style set of pinned and frequent apps on the left side, along with web and app search underneath. It also comes with a refreshed taskbar that comes with a new “task view,” which essentially lays out all of your running apps. You can also tile up to four apps on the same screen. Additionally, Windows 10 also gets a nice improvement to the command prompt: Now you can use keyboard shortcuts, as well as copy and paste.
The Charms Bar is still there, though it may not look exactly the same when the final build comes out — Microsoft says that the UI is still not final and it expects to change it between now and then — and there are plenty of touch elements and gestures carried over from Windows 8.
With Windows 10, Microsoft also plans to adjust the user interface depending on the mode you’re using it in; for instance, it’ll look different if you’re using it for touch versus if a mouse and keyboard are detected. The Modern UI shows up as a “large Start Menu” in addition to a back button on the taskbar when you’re in touch mode, whereas you’ll get the traditional desktop look and feel if you’re using a keyboard and mouse.
The team only showed a few bits of Windows 10 today, but they’ll continue to add more pieces to the puzzle over the course of the next year as Microsoft prepares for a late 2015 launch. For instance, we’ll see more of the system at the company’s Build conference next Spring. That said, Microsoft will be launching an Insider Program tomorrow, which is designed to give the initial Win10 experience to folks who have a deeper knowledge of the OS. Belfiore insists that the new Windows will give full functionality for everyone from beginners and novices to advanced users once it launches, however.
Developing…
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Software, Microsoft
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Hands-on with Nokia’s Here Maps for Android
When Microsoft finally completed its €3.79 billion acquisition of Nokia earlier this year, the company took control of its smartphone business but left behind a number of Nokia’s other powerful and profitable properties. One such property was the company’s mapping division, now called Here, which has become the defacto maps app for Windows Phone users the world over. Nokia tried to replicate the experience on iOS, but after poor reviews and the admission things “went horribly wrong,” the company pulled its iPhone app and went back to the drawing board. As for Android, it looked like Nokia would never deliver a real Google Maps alternative.
Luckily, that’s all about to change. Thanks to some marketing muscle from Korea, Nokia will soon give Samsung Galaxy smartphone owners advanced access to its maps app. While Nokia readies Here Maps for Samsung’s Galaxy Apps store, which is expected to drop in the coming weeks, the company gave us an early preview of its new app, and it’s good.
When you first launch the app, you will be asked to sign up or log in. It’s important that you do, because you need an account to download maps and save collections for later. For ease of use, Nokia lets you use Facebook to sign in, but if you don’t like the idea of sharing data with Zuckerberg and co., you can simply use Nokia’s own signup form.
Once you’ve cleared that hurdle, you’ll immediately notice how basic the app is — there are no bells and whistles here. That’s no bad thing, because the app loads instantly and transitions are very smooth. Just like Google Maps, Here supplies the default mapping data (labelled Maps) and turn-by-turn navigation (labelled Drive).
Getting Around
Selecting Drive will immediately ask you select your destination. You can either enter a location directly or pull up a list of journeys you’ve recently made. Once you’ve plugged in that in, Here Maps will list the duration of the journey, the total number of miles, the main routes it expects to take and will also, as long as you’re not using offline mode (more on this later), list any potential traffic delays you might encounter on your journey. There are options to include or exclude major roads, toll roads, ferries or tunnels if your mode of transport requires you to.
In the wider settings, you can choose to enable a feature that will gauge your speed and warn you if you exceed a speed limit in a certain area. The app offers two sliders: one that lets you choose how fast you need to be going to trigger an alert in an area where the limit is under 50mph, and another for when you’re beetling down a major road (over 50mph). There’s the usual option to switch navigation voices, but unlike Waze, which offers guidance from none other than Terry Crews, you’re stuck with regular male and female voices in at least nine European languages (which I’d still consider a huge plus).
During my short test, Drive performed well. It delivered early navigation prompts, meaning you can familiarize yourself with your surroundings before you make the turn. Although I was navigating roads I’m already familiar with, the app appeared to list the most effective route (i.e. the one I would’ve always taken), but did provide alternatives just in case.
If you don’t have a car, Nokia also includes train travel and walking options. Once a destination is entered, the app will detect your current location and provide walking distances to your local station and a number of upcoming trains. Like when you’re driving, it’ll list the total journey and estimated arrival times, how many changes it expects you’ll make and also give you a detailed summary of the journey ahead of you.
Offline Maps
One of Nokia’s mapping strengths is its ability to offer offline data not just for specific countries, but entire continents. Google offers a way to make selected areas available offline, but even then you’re only getting a tiny fraction of what Nokia can offer. To enable offline mode, Nokia has included a small tickbox in the menu. As soon as you enable it, you can search for specific locations and enable turn-by-turn navigation, but you won’t benefit from traffic warnings or Nokia’s updated place listings. Be warned, though, if you want to use offline maps, you need to make sure you have a chunk of free space on your device. For reference, North American and European maps take up 6.8GB and 9GB, respectively, and there are no options to dial it down to capture smaller areas.
Offline maps are likely to be a huge help if you want to see the sights while you’re abroad but don’t want to waste money on roaming fees. Before you go, though, you can add the places you’d like to visit to a “Collection,” which you can then pull up when you arrive in a distant land. The point-of-interest database might not be as comprehensive as Google’s, but it’s certainly not lacking. Nokia also lets you share these locations with other people using its Glympse integration, letting others see where you’re visiting and possibly join you (if you’re online, that is).
The app provides a decent mix of features without becoming bloated or troublesome to use. If you’re looking for a legitimate alternative to Google Maps, Here Maps matches its rival in many aspects and betters it in others. The new iOS and Android apps will be available later this year, after Samsung has enjoyed its period of Android exclusivity.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software, Nokia
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Five day old Android L build LRW87D shows up with crash log and short video
We already know Android L is coming, and we have a pretty good idea of what it’s going to be called, but we can’t help but feel excited when we see more evidence of its existence pop up. This latest news comes to us courtesy of the Chromium issue tracker once again, which has spotted Android L build LRW87D, this time due to a crash log being posted, even being accompanied by a video of the app in question crashing. Check it out:
It’s not particularly long, or particularly special, but in the 20 seconds or so, you get to see a nice window transition and those now iconic soft keys at the bottom of the screen.
The build in question is said to have been running on a Hammerhead device, know to us as the Nexus 5, and the build number (LRW87D) suggests that the build is from the 25th of September, though it should be noted that dates of these builds can be notoriously inaccurate, though we’re sure to be looking at a pretty recent build here. We’re expecting Android L to make an appearance when Google announces its new Nexus devices, the Nexus 9 and Nexus 6, though when exactly that will happen is anybody’s guess.
What do you think about this latest Android L build? Are you excited for Android L? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: myce.com
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Premier Inn’s new smart hotel lets you book, check in and get cosy with an app
More than four years in the making, Premier Inn has taken the wraps off its first smart hotel rooms. The UK’s biggest hotel chain has embraced mobile with both hands, letting you book your stay, check in and play with various room settings using its official iOS or Android apps. The 123 square-foot rooms in its flagship “hub” in Covent Garden (which opens in November but is now available to book) come furnished with a 40-inch smart TV and as much free high-speed WiFi as you can guzzle. With an app that can seemingly control everything, including the room temperature and what’s on the box, we wonder if London’s street performers will notice a sudden drop in donations as guests ditch sightseeing for some technology-enabled R&R.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, Software, Mobile
Source: Hub (App Store), (Google Play)
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AIVAnet 