HBO Now is finally on the Roku
After its stint as a 90-day Apple TV exclusive had come and gone, it seemed like HBO Now would never end up on the Roku. But, if you’ve been pining for episodes of Veep on your set-top box of choice, your wait is finally over. Beginning today the app (or Channel as Roku calls them) is available for download on all Roku players and televisions introduced after May 2011. New users can sign up for a account directly within the app and for $14.99 a month can catch up on Game of Thrones, True Detective, Leftovers and The Wire (one of the greatest TV shows ever). New users get a 30-day free trial and current subscribers can just log in with their current account info even if they signed up via the Apple TV.
Source: Roku
Mozilla proposes three golden rules for ad blockers
Users and advertisers are about to get involved in a dust-up over the role of content blockers, with much of the internet caught in the crossfire. Mozilla is hoping to play peacemaker by proposing a set of three golden rules that will create a “healthy, open web.” The most notable is probably the idea that the firms providing browser extensions should be “content neutral,” only screening out items that the user wants to avoid. That means blocking malware, pernicious tracking software produced by advertisers and bandwidth-heavy video ads. It’s also a subtle two-fingered salute to companies like AdBlock Plus, which lets Google, Amazon and Microsoft amongst others get around the block, so long as they pay a fee.
Next up, there’s the principle that ad-blocking software should be “open,” enabling publishers to alter their tactics and play nicely, rather than being permanently blacklisted. Meanwhile, rule three says that the people, rather than developers, should have final say on what’s being blocked and how. Instead, these apps should come with detailed, granular control so individuals can tailor their experience to their needs. Right now, they’re just a list of ideas that are being kicked around, with the organization asking for users to chip in with useful suggestions.
Source: Mozilla
Disney retires a ton of apps to focus on ‘more engaging’ games
Disney Interactive recently announced it was retiring close to 100 applications, claiming that it wants to focus on building “new and more engaging” games. The Disney branch, which is behind the popular Infinity toys-to-life series, says the decision was difficult to make but needed to be done. Most of the affected Android, iOS and Windows Phone apps were outdated, since they had been based on older films. Among them are Guardians of the Galaxy: The Universal Weapon, Lone Ranger, Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Cars: Numbers & Counting, G-Force: Mooch Fly, Toy Story 3: Operation Camouflage and many more. While some of these titles may still be playable and available for download, Disney Interactive says it won’t be supporting or updating them going forward. It also said it’s not responsible for getting you your money back for any of these retired apps — the full list is right here.
[Image credit: Getty Images]
Via: Talk Android
Source: Disney Interactive
Pandora snatches up Ticketfly to become a one-stop shop for music
Pandora has been providing artists with tools to connect with fans and understand their audience for a while now, but the company is getting serious about event promotion, too. The internet radio service announced that it’s purchasing Ticketfly, a company that offers ticketing and other marketing tools for live gigs. Ticketfly currently works with 1,200 venues and promoters to help folks like you and I find and purchase tickets to catch a live show. The acquisition means that Pandora will have a way for artists to sell tickets in addition to its AMP (Artist Marketing Platform) feature that provides audience info and Artist Audio Messages that help them directly connect with fans. It also recently purchased Next Big Sound to help with listener insights and trends. This deal for Ticketfly is worth around $450 million and it’s said to be “a nearly equal mix” of cash and stock.
Source: Pandora
Google wants to make mobile web browsing faster
Let’s face it: a lot of those beautifully-designed websites, feature articles and media don’t translate well for those browsing on a mobile device. To improve the speed and efficiency of the mobile web, Google has announced the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) Project. Through the initiative, Mountain View is looking to leverage existing HTML tech to help publishers build “light-weight” sites that load faster, even if they contain video, animations, slideshows and other items that typically require significant bandwidth. “We also want the same code to work across multiple platforms and devices so that content can appear everywhere in an instant,” a blog post announcing AMP explains. Google has already used AMP’s HTML open framework for Search and its other apps/services (like News) could see the tech as well. The company already has around 30 publishers on board, including Twitter, Pinterest, WordPress and LinkedIn. Of course, Google isn’t the only one improving mobile browsing as Facebook varies how your News Feed loads based on your connection.
Source: Official Google Blog
Have your say on the FCC’s plan to lock down WiFi routers
You may know that you can replace your WiFi router’s software with an open source version like DD-WRT or Tomato to make it more secure or powerful. However, the US wireless regulator (FCC) only seems to have figured that out recently, and is not happy with your ability to boost the signal power on such devices. As such, it proposed changes to regulations, with one document suggesting it may ban or restrict third-party software altogether. That caught the eye of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which created an online petition asking the FCC to make changes.
The EFF petition says that “router manufacturers are notoriously slow about updating their software — even with critical security fixes on the way. Under the FCC’s proposal, you could have no alternative to running out-of-date and vulnerable firmware.” It’s referring, in part, to an FCC demand that manufacturer’s “describe in detail how the device is protected from ‘flashing’ and the installation of third-party firmware such as DD-WRT.”
The FCC is proposing rules that could wipe out free software on wireless devices. https://t.co/Darkq5rUyQ pic.twitter.com/BggiK4YF5Y
— EFF (@EFF) October 6, 2015
For its part, the FCC gave a statement to Ars Technica that “versions of this (open-source) software can be used as long as they do not add the functionality to modify the underlying operating characteristics of the RF [radio frequency] parameters.” In addition, it told TechDirt that it clamped down in the first place because “we had problems with illegally modified equipment interfering with terrestrial doppler weather radar at airports. Naturally, the FAA freaked out, and the FCC responded to this actual real-world problem.”
Many folks are concerned that the overly broad wording will force manufacturers to just lock out DD-WRT and other open-source programs and be done with it. Others believe that with recent net-neutrality decisions, the FCC is on a pro-consumer tear and won’t take any draconian actions. If you’ve got concerns, why not express them on the EFF’s petition, where they’ll be “viewable online one day after being submitted to the FCC public docket?” “This is, of course, why the FCC does notices of proposed rulemaking and seeks comment from the parties and affected stakeholders,” as the FCC itself put it.
Via: EFF (Twitter)
Barclays won’t enable Apple Pay support until early 2016
When Apple Pay launched in the UK back in July, Barclays was a notable absentee. It didn’t take long for the bank to change course, however, as took only a couple of hours for it to confirm that it would enable support for the NFC payment technology in the future. In the months that have passed, the bank hasn’t offered any clues as to when it will launch — until today. Disgruntled customer Mike Jobson took it upon himself to email the CEO of Barclays Retail Banking, Ashok Vaswani, to ask how long the wait might be. Vaswani swiftly replied, confirming that the bank would enable Apple Pay functionality “very early in the New Year.”
“We have signed up for ApplePay and will launch it very early in the New Year,” said Vaswani. “We truly value your custom and hope that you continue to bank with us particularly since we are launching this shortly.” The CEO’s definition of “shortly” might not gel with the hundreds of unhappy customers who have taken to Twitter to voice their displeasure at the company’s lack of movement over Apple’s payment platform. We’ve contacted Barclays numerous times, via both phone and email, and have received the same stock response: “We are really excited about the launch of Apple Pay and will bring Barclays debit cards and Barclaycard credit cards to Apple Pay in future.”
Other customers have voted with their wallets by cancelling their accounts and moving to banks that already back Apple Pay. With what looks like another three month wait, there could be an even bigger exodus, especially while the company rolls out NFC payments on rival platforms.
Via: Macrumors
Source: Mike Jobson
ICYMI: HoloLens gaming, walking talking robot phone and more
Today on In Case You Missed It: The RoBoHon is a 7-inch tall smartphone robot that can also dance, walk and talk and basically simultaneously creep out and amaze all your family and friends. Microsoft is busy dreaming up the next HoloLens game that we really want to play: Code-named Project X-Ray, it sends robots to do battle with you, right in your living room. And a virtual reality headset app wants to help train surgeons in a way that doesn’t endanger any real people.
We also touch on the scout quadcopter that maps out terrain for its friend, a walking robot. Finally, we are rounding out the show with a Space Week nod for what an Italian astronaut regularly eats aboard the International Space Station.
If you come across any interesting videos, we’d love to see them. Just tweet us with the #ICYMI hashtag @engadget or @mskerryd.
Sony has announced which Xperia devices will be getting Android Marshmallow
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Sony has traditionally been quite quick at announcing availability of its software updates, and its made sure to do it again this time around, announcing which Xperia devices will be getting Android Marshmallow. According to Sony, this list includes:
- Xperia Z5,
- Xperia Z5 Compact,
- Xperia Z5 Premium,
- Xperia Z4 Tablet,
- Xperia Z3+,
- Xperia Z3,
- Xperia Z3 Compact,
- Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact,
- Xperia Z2,
- Xperia Z2 Tablet,
- Xperia M5,
- Xperia C5 Ultra,
- Xperia M4 Aqua,
- Xperia C4.
The most notable omission from the list is the just-over-2-year-old Xperia Z1 which received Android Lollipop, but it looks like it’s the end of the road for support of this device. Naturally, this means that the original Xperia Z1 Compact has also dropped off the list – it looks like Sony is following its 2 year support regime to the tee. Apart from promising that it will be available at some point, Sony hasn’t put a date on its update announcement, but presumably this will be announced at a later date.
What do you think about which Xperia devices will be getting Android Marshmallow? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Sony Mobile via Android Police
The post Sony has announced which Xperia devices will be getting Android Marshmallow appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
New live wallpaper app, Meter, from Google Creative Labs offers real-time statistics from your device
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The Google Creative Labs team has delivered us all a few interesting apps over the last year or so. They brought us Photowall for Chromecast, Tunnel Vision and Lip Swap. Many of them are all a bit off the wall, but show some cool things that can be created. The latest creation to grace the Play Store from the team is an app called Meter.
Meter takes the live wallpaper concept and makes it a bit more useful in an abstract and colorful way. The wallpaper will display three status options on the background: Battery, Wi-Fi / Signal and notifications. Each of the three with cycle through on every unlock of your device. Assuming you enable all three of course.
The code for the app is open sourced so other developers can take it and make even more real-time live wallpapers for the public, or personal, use. One could set it up to display app usage or just missed calls.
The video above is of the battery meter application. The ball is mostly for play, but the smaller it gets, the less power you have available on your device. Same goes for the triangle, the signal level plays well with the gyroscope to give you something to goof off with when sitting idle.
This data-driven live wallpaper displays the battery level, wireless signal and number of notifications of your device in a simple visualization. It cycles through three visualizations with every unlock, and each wallpaper can be manipulated by tilting and moving the device. This simple ambient display creates a peripheral awareness of your phone’s status over the course of a day.
Feel free to direct yourself to the Play Store to pick up the free app and give it a whirl. You can also check out more about the experiment, get the code and find other cool things in the works at androidexperiments.com
http://playboard.me/widgets/pb-app-box/1/pb_load_app_box.js
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