Note-taking platform Springpad shutting down on June 25th
Springpad, the online and app-based platform for saving and sharing web content, managing notes and collaborating on projects with others, has announced that it’ll be shutting up shop come June 25th. Despite ongoing development of the service, it’s evidently struggled to compete with the likes of Evernote and others, despite attracting over 5 million users during its six-year lifespan. Come the tail end of June, you’ll need to find a new home for anything that lives on Springpad, and the company’s said it’s working on an export tool that’ll allow you to save your data and/or move it elsewhere, although we don’t currently know which similar services the tool will support. Little consolation to Springpad loyalists, no doubt, but at least moving over to a more successful alternative means it’ll probably be the last time you have to.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Software, Mobile
Source: Springpad
Use your smartphone to purchase donuts at Tim Horton’s
When you’re in a hurry to get that much needed sugar fix, you can’t be bothered to futz with things like actual currency or debit cards. Thankfully, Tim Horton’s now allows mobile payment options from iOS, Android and of course, BlackBerry devices for nabbing up a half-dozen quickly. A select few locations will accommodate those handset-driven payments via NFC while others allow scanning a receipt barcode to deduct monies from a the virtual Tim Card. iPhone users can also add the donut and coffee outfit to Passbook for easy access when the need arises. As you might expect, useful add-ons like restaurant locator, reloading funds, accessing nutritional information (which we recommend you just ignore, it’s donuts!) and others are baked right in.
You can now scan to pay on your mobile in restaurants with the TimmyMe[TM] App. Also supporting Apple Passbook. Details: http://t.co/kZu6l6pacE
– Tim Hortons U.S. (@TimHortonsUS) May 22, 2014
Via: TechnoBuffalo
Source: Tim Horton’s
AllCast Picks up Twitch.TV Support; AllCast Receiver Goes Old School
Koushik Dutta’s AllCast app and companion app AllCast Receiver have both received some pretty cool updates today that might entice more people to pick them up tonight.
As for AllCast, todays update brings in a number of things. There are the usual amounts of bug fixes for Roku and Apple TV users along with some for fixes for Dropbox. Koush also lists Media Server browsing improvements as well. While those are always great things to see, it is the recent addition of Twitch.TV to the side bar that is sure to make gamers smile from ear to ear.
There is one catch, you need to have the Twitch app installed for it to appear in the site bar. Not really a big deal.
As for the AllCast Receiver app. Todays update takes the app backwards in time. Koush has backported the receiver app all the way back to Honeycomb. Now you can get the receiver app installed on those aging Google TV boxes and give them new purpose again. The update also includes, only for Jelly Bean+ devices, Wireless Headphones and Screen mirroring. I assume he means that you can cast from your primary device to another device but listen through the cast device. If that is the case, that means plenty of husbands will be popping in some ear buds late at night.
If you don’t have the updates installed yet then be sure to hit the Play Store and grab them. If you are clueless as to what either of these apps are, then you should take a closer look and grab them both.
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Stable Chrome for the Desktop Picks up “OK Google” Voice Trigger
Voice triggered searching, along with all other voice triggered actions, seem to be where things are headed. For a while now the “OK Google” hotword has been active in the Chrome beta builds for desktop and laptop PC’s and it would seem that Google is finally confident enough in its performance to make it available to the stable Chrome build that general users interact with daily.
The hotword action will slowly be making its way to all Chrome users on Mac, Linux and Windows over the next few days here in the U.S.. They mention that they plan to include more languages and ChromeOS to the mix soon. You may already have it, or you may not. To check, just open up a new tab or go to Google.com, and you should be able to simple say “OK Google” and tell it stuff like Set a timer or Create a reminder.
To make sure it is active head to the three bars in the upper right hand corner of Chrome. Then go to Settings, Show advanced Settings and then look in the Privacy section. You should see “Enable ‘OK Google’ to start a voice search”. If you don’t, then you haven’t picked up the latest update yet. So just sit tight and wait. At least you can still click the mic.
Anyone stoked for the hotword addition to the stable Chrome release?
Source: Google Chrome Blog via Androidandme
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The man behind some of gaming’s most notorious rumors outs himself
Excited about Fallout 4? Well, cool it, because that’s not necessarily a real thing. You’re forgiven if you thought it was, and not just because we love you: rumors swirled about the supposed game for months. While at least one of them was true — and yes, Fallout 4 is assuredly a possibility — some of the most widely reported rumors were total bullshit. And not just any ol’ poop, but carefully crafted lies from a single man — that’s according to a profile piece by Kotaku‘s Jason Schreier. The alleged fake leaker also promulgated false rumors of Watch Dogs and Call of Duty, both of which were widely reported among gaming sites. It’s a fascinating tale, and we suggest heading over to Kotaku for the full piece.
[Image credit: Karin Dreyer, Getty Creative]
Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD
Source: Kotaku
Minecraft arrives on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this August
Look, playing Minecraft on a console is really great. It’s basically the same delightful/terrifying experience from PC, albeit in the comfort of your living room. What’s not to like? Well, on last-gen consoles, there was at least one unfortunate side effect of the platform: the procedurally generated world of Minecraft was significantly smaller than what could be done on PC. With Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions arriving this August, that changes. As development studio Mojang puts it, “It brings significantly bigger worlds and a greater draw distance than Xbox 360 Edition.” Hot dog!
Of course, should the more bite-sized world of last-gen Minecraft suffice (and believe us, it’s plenty big), the PlayStation Vita version also arrives this August. Here’s even better news: if you already bought the game on PlayStation 3, you own it on Vita. A similar deal applies to folks converting from PS3/Xbox 360 versions to PS4/XB1 versions: if you already own the prior version and you want to upgrade to current-gen, it’s just $5. The latter deal only applies for the first year of availability, so you’ll wanna upgrade soon-ish to snag it on the cheap.
To sweeten the deal even further, saved games from last-gen/Vita will scale up to current-gen consoles (though it’s not possible to go back — beware!). All the updates to last-gen versions will come packed in to this August’s version, and the whole package goes for $20. Oh, and the creepers are still super, super creepy.
Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Sony, Microsoft
Source: Mojang
Any.DO makes a serious push toward bigger screens with new web app
Task-managing applications like Any.DO are known for helping you stay on top of things, like reminding us to pick up that milk on the way home — because we all know how important it is to do that. But while the service has made its presence be felt on mobile, a dedicated web app is something that Any.DO users have long been waiting for. And now it’s here. As of today, you can start using Any.DO outside of iOS and Android and on any browser, not just via a Chrome extension. For the most part, it’ll be the same on your web browser as it is on the smartphone app, but there are some new features that Any.DO has tailored specifically for bigger screens. Focus Mode, as seen above, lets you quickly glance at what to-do’s you have coming up; Planning Mode, meanwhile, shows multiple folders and allows tasks to be moved across one another.
As part of this announcement, Any.DO also let it be known that it has now reached 10 million users worldwide, and it is hoping the newly minted web app will only help it grow further. “There’s a world of people who haven’t considered us because they need a full web experience, right on their computer screens. They’re going to use Any.do for the first time and that’s what I’m most excited about,” said Any.DO CEO Omer Perchik.
Filed under: Misc, Internet, Software
Source: Any.DO
Chrome’s ‘OK Google’ voice search rolls out to all
If you wanted to enjoy hands-free Google searching from your desktop, your only option was to install an extension or become an early tester. The downside was that you’d have to accept some additional bugs might come your way. No more — Google has rolled out a Chrome update that integrates the company’s now iconic “OK Google” command directly into the latest version of its browser and in Chrome OS. As long as you’re based in the US or have Chrome set to US English, any time you visit the Google homepage or open a new tab, you can quickly say (or loudly shout, the choice is yours) “OK Google” to perform a search, ask a question or schedule a reminder. As long as you fulfil the geographic requirements (or are happy to tinker with Chrome’s language settings), you should be able to test those voice commands seconds after you update.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Google
Source: Google Chrome (Google+)
Virtual weed farms and the sticky state of Apple’s App Store restrictions
I was just about to tell you about Weed Firm, an insanely addictive app that tasks you with building a marijuana empire from your house in the suburbs, but I feel a little bad about gushing… because it’s no longer available to download. Yes, it’s been pulled from the App Store. (It’s also been removed from Google Play, but for unrelated reasons.) As recently as yesterday, the free app held the number two position on the charts in Apple’s store, and it’s almost guaranteed that it disappeared due to concerns about illegal or otherwise “controversial” content. (Apple’s famously mum about the reasons behind booting certain apps.)
Even though the Weed Firm app includes a disclaimer about not encouraging illegal activities, the fact is you’re growing Purple Haze, smoking up customers, paying off crooked cops and probably loving every minute of it. It seemed a bit strange that Apple — not to mention Google — approved the app in the first place, but considering how many weed-related apps are still available for download through Apple, it’s a bit odd that it’s now gone.
According to a statement released by Manitoba Games, the studio behind Weed Firm, the game may have been pulled because of its material — combined with the fact that it became so successful so quickly:
“We guess the problem was that the game was just too good and got to number one in All Categories, since there are certainly a great number of weed-based apps still available, as well as games promoting other so-called illegal activities such as shooting people, crashing cars and throwing birds at buildings.”
Throwing birds at buildings might not be exactly the same as growing and selling a drug that’s illegal in most countries, but you get the point. While we’ll likely never know exactly why Apple pulled the plug, it’s worth noting that other apps have never even made it into the App Store despite containing no illegal content. HappyPlayTime, which teaches women about their bodies via an anthropomorphized cartoon vulva, was recently rejected, even though racier apps are available for download.
Tina Gong, who created HappyPlayTime, said that she would focus on developing a web-based version of the app instead. And the makers of Weed Firm may do the same; while explaining that content may need to be adjusted to meet the App Store’s standards, the devs also talk about taking the game elsewhere:
“As for the other platforms, we will endeavor to make it as censorship-free as possible while assigning the highest maturity rating to the game. We do not want kids playing Weed Firm, but we firmly believe that adults should have a choice to do whatever the hell they want as long as they are not hurting anybody in the process.”
Like it or not, the App Store is Apple’s to regulate, so while these titles may seem fairly innocuous, you may have to start looking elsewhere to get your fix. Manitoba Games says Weed Firm should be back on Google Play pending a change in publisher, but iPhone users may be going through withdrawals for a bit longer. Of course, you always have the option of sideloading apps provided you can find the .APK files online. And now’s a better time than ever to back up the apps you’ve been lucky enough to snag while they’re still available.
Filed under: Software, Apple, Google
Source: Manitoba Games
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra, E1 and M2 Slated for KitKat in July
Earlier this morning Sony announced that four devices (Xperia Z, ZL, ZR and Tablet Z) all have Android 4.4 KitKat updates rolling out. In the end of their announcement found on their blog they also let loose a few other devices that will be picking up some KitKat goodness.
The Sony Xperia T2 Ultra, Xperia E1 and Xperia M2 (and dual variants) are all slated for a KitKat update sometime in July. Those three devices will most likely end up with many of the same functions and features that are built into the currently rolling KitKat update like the revamped UI, Status Bar and Quick Settings menu. It certainly seems like Sony has really been stepping up its game in the software update depart over the last year. It is a nice surprise to see, now if the carriers all get on board to push the update is a different story.
Via Sony Blog
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