Android Wear makes its debut on iOS
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There were hints, rumors and leaks that all pointed to Google working to bring Android Wear support to iOS device. Everyone can stop hoping and dreaming as Google has announced today that the app is now available on Apple iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6 and 6 plus so long as they are on iOS 8.2 or newer.
- Get your info at a glance: Check important info like phone calls, messages, and notifications from your favorite apps. Android Wear features always-on displays, so you’ll never have to move your wrist to wake up your watch.
- Follow your fitness: Set fitness goals, and get daily and weekly views of your progress. Your watch automatically tracks walking and running, and even measures your heart rate.
- Save time with smart help: Receive timely tips like when to leave for appointments, current traffic info, and flight status. Just say “Ok Google” to ask questions like “Is it going to rain in London tomorrow?” or create to-dos with “Remind me to pack an umbrella.”
Google also makes mention that the release of the iOS compatible app works with the LG Watch Urbane
This is really a huge thing for Google and for Android Wear watch manufacturers as well as developers. Getting these watches into the hands on billions on the other side of the os spectrum is only going to boost sales and bring more people to the party. Any dual weilders out there happy to see this, or have already tried to get their watch up and running with an iOS device? Let us know so others can know as well.
Source: Google Via Droid-Life
The post Android Wear makes its debut on iOS appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Bing wants to help you win a fantasy football championship this season
Our own Aaron Souppouris put Cortana to work betting on English Premier League matches last season, and now Bing wants to offer more help with NFL action. Microsoft’s search software has been making sports-related predictions for some time now, and this season it wants to help you dominate that fantasy football league. To lend a hand in selecting your lineup each week, Bing will offer updated player projections and suggestions for free agent pickups. Sure, ESPN, Yahoo and others already serve up a similar collection of weekly rankings, but Microsoft’s search engine has a decent track record when it comes to sports (and Oscar) predictions. Bing will continue to predict games every week, much like Cortana has done since the start of last season. It’ll also give you updated team power rankings every Tuesday alongside updated projections on your team’s postseason chances. And as you might expect, it wants to be your home for states and other game-related info while you watch at home. You can put Bing to the test when the NFL season kicks off Thursday, September 10th.
[Image credit: Joe Robbins/Getty Images]
Filed under:
Software, Microsoft
Source:
Bing Blogs
Tags: bing, fantasyfootball, football, microsoft, nfl, predicitions, search, sports
iHeartRadio hits Windows 10 with Cortana support
Beating Pandora to the punch, iHeartRadio has just launched a Windows 10 app that takes full advantage of Microsoft’s Cortana virtual assistant. So, in addition to streaming music and radio stations from the app the usual way, you can also shout commands at Cortana to spin up some tunes. (Yes, it also works with Cortana text search.) It also packs in Live Tiles support, allowing you to make your favorite songs or artists accessible right from the revamped Start menu. The new app could be a smart way for iHeartRadio to add to its user base, which already clocks in at over 60 million people. It’s surprising that Pandora still hasn’t delivered a dedicated Windows 10 app yet, so iHeartRadio might be able to satisfy some of the demand for streaming radio on Microsoft’s new OS.
Filed under:
Software
Source:
iHeartRadio, Windows Store
Tags: iHeartRadio, Windows10
NSA wants encryption that fends off quantum computing hacks
The National Security Agency isn’t just yearning for quantum computers that can break tough encryption — it wants encryption that can protect against quantum computers, too. Officials have begun planning a transition to “quantum resistant” encryption that can’t be cracked as quickly as conventional algorithms. As the NSA explains, even a seemingly exotic technique like elliptic curve cryptography “is not the long term solution” people thought it was. Quantum computing is advancing quickly enough that the NSA and other organizations could find themselves extremely vulnerable if they’re not completely ready when the technology becomes a practical reality.
This doesn’t mean that the NSA is asking the government or security vendors to avoid upgrading their ‘traditional’ encryption. It already has suggestions for cryptographic methods that should make it easier to adopt quantum-proof security. However, the agency doesn’t want others pouring a lot of their time and money into encryption that may well become obsolete in the “not too distant future.” Even though you aren’t likely to see a wave of quantum hacking any time soon, the prospect is real enough that the NSA is treating it as a high priority.
[Image credit: AP Photo/Patrick Semansky]
Filed under:
Internet, Software
Via:
Motherboard
Source:
NSA
Tags: cryptography, ellipticcurvedcryptography, encryption, internet, nist, nsa, quantumcomputing, security, suiteb
The many (surprisingly realistic) hacks of ‘Mr. Robot’
Most infosec pros agree that few Hollywood films or TV shows have gotten hacking as “right” as USA’s Mr. Robot. The show’s creator, Sam Esmail, told Engadget, “The hacker side of it actually was a combination of my frustration with the way hacker culture and tech culture was represented in Hollywood. I thought it was a very inaccurate, forced and cartoonish way of representing that kind of a culture.”
Getting hacks and hacking right on Mr. Robot means the tools and techniques pull from work done by security researchers in real life. In fact, it’s not uncommon to see hackers tweet that they spotted a colleagues’ research on episodes of the show. This is all in large part because it’s a TV show about hacking that chooses accuracy over drama. Mr. Robot’s technical consult, Michael Bazzell, told Forbes, “We don’t need to fake it. … We want that code to be accurate so that even the most sophisticated hacker or technical person out there will not roll their eyes at a scene.”
So while we all wait patiently for Mr. Robot‘s season one finale, let’s take a look back at Mr. Robot‘s notable hacks and the researchers who made them possible.
Slideshow-316039
Filed under:
Internet, Software
Tags: entertainment, hacking, MrRobot, security, UsaNetwork
Slack ties in with Windows 10’s notification center
Communication / productivity tool Slack is starting to blend in with Windows 10 after its latest update. In version 1.2.0, notifications show up in the desktop OS’ Action Center, and clicking them links directly to the appropriate conversation in the app. Many Windows applications never updated to take advantage of new features in Windows 8, or even to become fully compatible with how it worked with hardware like touchscreens, so it’s encouraging to see some support.
It’s not a Windows 10 Universal app yet, but the company has a Windows Phone version in beta, just months after it came out of beta on the desktop. There’s also a fresh new icon for Windows 10, and color-coded notification icon in the tray. If you use Slack in the workplace (like we do), it should probably auto-update with the latest features, or you can download it here.
Filed under:
Internet, Software
Source:
Slack Changelog, Slack Apps
Tags: 1.2.0, actioncenter, notifications, Slack, update, Windows10
Android Marshmallow Developer Preview 3 adds a way for us to track milliamp-hours used
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We’ve known for some time now that Android Marshmallow is going to greatly improve the ability of the Android operating system to save battery power during idle periods – early tests on a Nexus 5 were extremely encouraging. One new feature that has been included in the Android Marshmallow Developer Preview 3 which doesn’t directly affect these new power saving capabilities, but will help track it, is the addition of the milliamp-hours used counter. Hidden in the battery stats, each app now has an additional metric called “Computed power use” which adds up how much of your battery it has been eating up – a nice tool in case some of your apps are particularly power hungry.
We don’t know exactly how accurate this new metric is – for lack of a better example, we’d equate it to the accuracy of data usage on Android devices – but it’s a nice way to give a more quantitative representation. We’ll have to see whether “computed power use” makes it into the final cut of Android Marshmallow as a similar feature was seen on the Android L Preview before it disappeared as well.
What do you think about this new feature in Android Marshmallow Developer Preview 3? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Google+ via Android Police
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FAA starts testing its drone safety app
Back in May, the Federal Aviation Administration announced plans to test an app for drone hobbyists that’ll ensure they’re flying in approved airspace. The mobile software appears to be on schedule as B4UFLY is now in closed beta for iOS. Up to 1,000 UAV users will test the app that’s primarily aimed at keeping you informed about which areas are safe to fly. In addition to interactive maps, the software serves up location-based status alerts and sorts future flight plans. That status report takes into account “airspace, proximity to airports, temporary flight restrictions, current law and other FAA guidance and procedures,” according to the FAA’s announcement. The agency says the beta will last for “several months” before the app is made available to the public. And while the test is iOS-only, the FAA plans to make the full version compatible with Android devices as well.
Filed under:
Software
Source:
FAA
Tags: app, b4ufly, beta, drone, drones, faa, software, uav
Google adds some visual flair to Android app searches
Google has transformed Android search for apps and now displays the results in a pictorial, grid-like fashion. For instance, searching for “music apps” (either in Now or a browser) brings up the above grid, and clicking on a given app will take you straight to Google Play, as you’d expect. The feature, spotted by Android Police, appears to have rolled out over the last few days. Regular search results are still displayed below, but the grid images take up the entire first page, in much the same way as Google’s Knowledge Graph. It only works on Android, so far — doing a similar search on iOS yields a regular app list with the option to install.
Google has mixed feelings about Android app discovery, having recently published a study decrying full-page, “interstitial” app ads. However, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman criticized its methods, saying “Google’s Web search team has a conflict of interest… (when) you download the Yelp app, you’re less likely to do another search for a local business on Google.” As for the new app search grid, the results I checked showed a good mix of results, but if there’s a Google app in a given category, it does seem to come up first.
Filed under:
Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Google
Via:
Android Police
Source:
Google (Android devices only)
Tags: apps, google, GooglePlay, KnowledgeGraph, search
Phone It In the Right Way
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There’s a right way and a wrong way to phone it in. With a simple Smartphone, you can phone it in and show your teams just how stellar phoning it in can be. There are apps galore that managers can use to bring everyone into the room and keep up with your teams and office even when you are separated by geographical distance. Even full scale meetings get easier with the right tools. Create and foster a culture that engages your people with creativity, collaboration, and communication.
Do Meetings Right
Everyone has had the meeting from hell. Interminable. Pointless. You might as well be on a merry go round. You play Candy Crush on your phone, daydream, and according to a Verizon white paper 39 percent of meeting attendees have actually taken a nap. If you look around the meeting and see blank stares, you are dealing with a bunch of people who have simply checked out. Their butts are in the seats, but they are gone baby gone. Even in a video conference, there’s going to be people who just clock out the second the lights go down.
This is because most meetings are run in a format that despite the PowerPoint slides is right out of the last century. Top down, mono directional, and not taking into account that the people with their butts in the seats can contribute, too. A culture of ineffectual meetings can even turn toxic and dysfunctional, kneecapping an organization that needs to adapt to the digital age. It’s 2015, not 1985, and everyone needs to evolve past the shoulder pads and big hair era of management. Make the technology work for you, with apps that work on any platform or device.
Get Your Droid On
Pew Internet’s recent survey of smartphone use notes that 64 percent of Americans in 2015 own a smartphone, and that is up from 58 percent just in 2014. Odds are that your team members own a smartphone, and use it daily. If you can incorporate that mobile phone into your communications policy, you will have a flexible platform for reaching out to your staff and giving them the face time they need with you and each other. Android video conferencing with Bluejeans is not limited to Android, this application can connect with so many other platforms, including room based systems from Cisco and Polycom, and other apps that will make collaboration easy and intuitive.
Getting On Board
Unlike room based systems, you will find that using a cloud sourced application is much simpler and much less expensive. Previously, the hardware and the software deployed in many video conferencing systems required its own staff to operate. While you may want to appoint a meeting moderator, the interface, whether it is on a smartphone, a tablet, or other device is simple to use. Collaborative tools include document and video sharing, meeting recording, text chatting, and even a command center that will help you by providing valuable information about how you are conducting your meetings. Participants can access their meetings directly from their browser, and anyone from anywhere can be invited to join in.
Give Good Meeting
It can take some effort to build a culture in which everyone participates, and one of the chief complaints about meetings is that they are dominated by individuals and seem to go exactly nowhere. By deploying Bluejeans, meetings are always fresh. Participants can refer back to the recordings, notes, documents and other media that were shared during the meeting and implement the decisions that were made immediately. A meeting is productive only when acted upon. Meetings that go nowhere, have no agenda, and serve little purpose should be decisively eliminated.
Many meetings can be eliminated by deciding how best fulfill communication needs. For instance, calling a meeting with nothing as simple as a status update is a waste of time, disruption, and can slow productivity if a meeting does need to be held considering a certain subject within the status update then those who are most affected can be summoned to a video-conference to discuss solutions. Another complaint about meetings is that people who have the most to offer, are not usually invited to participate, there can be many reasons for this, but those who speak the least should be offered some time in front of the camera. When you are creating the meeting agenda give everyone a set amount of time to offer their contributions and points of view.
Final Words
You cannot change a culture overnight. Re-engaging with employees who are detached and alienated will take time. When a 2015 Gallup poll showed in excess of 68 percent of workers uninvolved, and unenthusiastic about their work, it should alarm any manager or stands the impact of soft costs on the bottom line. Reengage them, give them something to be enthusiastic about, and allow them to develop creativity and passion that will benefit your organization.
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