Twitter adds desktop notifications to direct messages on the web
Twitter’s direct messages via the web just got more useful. Today the social network will start rolling out DM notifications for its site which will be available for everyone by the end of the week. Once it does go live for you, if you have Twitter.com open in a browser tab and get a DM, a notification will appear in the top right corner of your display. The company has really been pushing for the DMs feature to become a full-fledge messaging service to compete with the likes of Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. In addition to today’s desktop news, it recently removed the 140-character limit from direct messages and in January added group messaging. The company has been in the midst of determining how to attract and keep new users to its service. Expanding one of the core features into something most people use on a daily basis, it might be able to get those users to stick around and actually post status updates.
Filed under:
Misc, Internet, Software
Source:
Twitter
Tags: DirectMessage, DM, Notifications, Twitter
Cortana officially arrives on Android via public beta
Following a leak last month, Microsoft’s virtual assistant officially arrived on Android. Thanks to a public beta, Redmond keeps its promise to bring Cortana to the Google faithful. As we’ve already seen, you can use Cortana to help with things like answering random questions, setting reminders, tracking flights and a number of other tasks. What you still can’t do, however, is use the “Hey Cortana” voice command to alert the virtual assistant to your needs. That remains a Windows-only feature for now, though Microsoft says it’ll be “continually improving the experience.” Perhaps that tool will arrive later, but for now, head to Google Play to nab the software in its current form.
Filed under:
Software, Mobile, Microsoft
Source:
Google Play, Microsoft
Tags: android, beta, cortana, microsoft, mobilepostcross, software, virtualassistant
Citymapper travel app tells you the best place to get on the train
While Apple and Google are incorporating more public transport data into their operating systems, standalone apps like Citymapper continue to lead the way in terms of features. Already in 28 cities, the travel app combines bus routes and live times, train timetables and cycle paths, but from today it’ll also help you navigate your way around an unfamiliar metropolis with its new “Where to Get On the Train” feature.
Now, when you embark on a journey using Citymapper’s Go mode, the app will tell you where best to get on a train in order to be close to the exit (or a connecting platform) when you get off. It’s especially useful during the rush hour crush, but also for those who might not understand signage in foreign cities. While it may make for a more pleasant hop between trains or shave a few extra minutes off your commute, Citymapper can’t yet tell you how busy those particular carriages might be (especially if everyone else is heeding the app’s advice).
[Image credit: Tim Adams, Flickr]
Filed under:
Transportation, Internet, Software, Mobile
Via:
Citymapper Blog
Source:
Citymapper (App Store), (Play Store)
Tags: app, citymapper, mobilepostcross, subway, train, tube
Windows 10’s face detection isn’t easily fooled by twins
Windows 10’s facial recognition is supposed to make it easy to sign into your PC while maintaining security, but just how good is it? Good enough that even your doppelganger might not get in, apparently. The Australian has conducted an informal test where it tried to fool Windows using sets of identical twins, and the software wasn’t tricked once — it had a problem logging in both twins in one instance, but it otherwise allowed only those individuals that had set up recognition in the first place. That was true even when the ‘evil’ twins attempted to spoof the camera by adjusting their hair or removing their glasses.
It’s important to note that this is a small sample of people, and that the host PC (a Lenovo Yoga 3 14) had a sophisticated depth-sensing camera. There’s still a chance that the right set of twins could dupe the Hello system, or that a regular camera might not be so smart. However, this suggests that Windows’ face detection is reliable enough to eliminate some of the frustrations you see elsewhere. And that’s important for both security and convenience. It not only prevents impostors from getting in, but reduces the chances that you’ll have to jump through hoops to verify your identity. I’m a non-identical twin, and I find it annoying when people have problems tagging me correctly on Facebook — in theory, Microsoft’s technology should make my life that much easier.
Filed under:
Software, Microsoft
Source:
The Australian
Tags: FaceRecognition, FacialRecognition, hello, microsoft, security, software, windows, windows10, windowshello
OnePlus 2 update brings Stagefright patch, battery improvements
We knew an over-the-air update was coming to the OnePlus 2, but now it’s here. Today, OnePlus released the first software revision for its new flagship smartphone, bringing with it a few major changes to OxygenOS. The most important one, perhaps, is an added patch for Stagefright, the security vulnerability that’s affecting more than 950 million Android devices. There are also improvements to the handset’s battery performance and the user interface, as well as other under-the-hood enhancements that should make the OnePlus 2 more stable overall. Our own Senior Mobile Editor, Chris Velazco, noticed some software bugs in his review unit, so here’s to hoping this version of OxygenOS (2.0.1) fixes these issues.
Filed under:
Cellphones, Software, Mobile
Via:
Android Beat
Source:
OnePlus
Tags: mobilepostcross, OnePlus, OnePlus2, SoftwareUpdate, stagefright
Spotify’s new privacy policy shouldn’t freak you out
The internet is awash with reports that Spotify, the music streaming service, is adopting The Big Book of Dystopian Futures as its new corporate policy. The furor is over the company’s updated privacy policy, which includes new statements about what it will and won’t do with your data. A brief reading of the changes raises a few questions about the company’s need to access things like your contacts and photos. “You Can’t Do Squat About Spotify’s Eerie New Privacy Policy,” says Wired. That’s true, but you also can’t do much about any company’s privacy policy, apart from stop using its services. Besides, if you actually take a look, Spotify’s really isn’t that egregious.
Spotify confirmed evil. http://t.co/Cj6RUc2e45
— Markus Persson (@notch) August 21, 2015
The main areas of contention in the new policy, highlighted by Wired and others, are three additions. Here’s the first:
With your permission, we may collect information stored on your mobile device, such as contacts, photos, or media files. Local law may require that you seek the consent of your contacts to provide their personal information to Spotify, which may use that information for the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy.
Sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it? Here’s the thing though: this doesn’t mean Spotify is going to scrape your phone for contacts, photos, or media files. As the privacy policy states “with your permission,” Spotify has committed to ask you before collecting any of this information. “We will always ask for individual permission or clearly inform you of the ability to opt out from sharing location, photos, voice and contacts,” the company clarifies further in a blog post announcing the changes. But why might it want that data in the first place?
There, @Spotify account ended. I suggest you do the same. Privacy policies like that must die. I’ll happily resume sub after remedies.
— Henrik Pettersson (@carnalizer) August 21, 2015
All of these features are pretty easy to explain. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek says this will be used to personalize playlist images or update profile pictures, two features that are apparently on the way but not yet integrated into the app. There’s also a “find friends” feature that will let Spotify scan your address book and suggest connections. This is a super common among apps, and will be entirely optional. What about photos? Let’s put aside the notion that Spotify gives a damn about the hundreds of pet and food pics on your phone for a second. When it comes to “media files,” your guess is as good as ours, but maybe Spotify’ll add a song-matching feature, or bring back local music playback? Either way, it will ask you first.
As for the “seek the consent of your contacts,” this is really Spotify covering its back. Some countries have strict privacy laws, and your contacts’ information may not be yours to share. In reality, you should always ask your friends if they’re okay with you sharing their information with a company. Just because you’re a total jerk if you don’t.
So that really wasn’t that bad, was it? Here’s the second change:
Depending on the type of device that you use to interact with the Service and your settings, we may also collect information about your location based on, for example, your phone’s GPS location or other forms of locating mobile devices (e.g., Bluetooth). We may also collect sensor data (e.g., data about the speed of your movements, such as whether you are running, walking, or in transit).
The company has a fitness feature in its apps called Spotify Running, which matches music to the pace of your running using — you guessed it — the sensor data from your phone. It’s a little bad that Spotify has taken this long to add this stuff into its policy, but the fact remains that this is not new behavior for the apps.
Ready for number three?
You may integrate your Spotify account with Third Party Applications. If you do, we may receive similar information related to your interactions with the Service on the Third Party Application, as well as information about your publicly available activity on the Third Party Application. This includes, for example, your “Like”s and posts on Facebook. We may use cookies and other technologies to collect this information; you can learn more about such use in the section Information about cookies, other technologies, and third-party data collection of this Privacy Policy.
So this isn’t actually much of an addition at all. It’s more of a clarification. The old policy said it would get lots of information from your Facebook account, but didn’t do a great job at specifying what it would receive through the link. There’s a line about “information that may be available on or through your Facebook account,” but it doesn’t mention Likes. It’s pretty useful to know that Facebook is sending Spotify this stuff, and if you don’t like it, you can just not integrate your account with Facebook — I know I haven’t, mainly because I’d rather not be judged on my awful listening habits. You also have the option of going through Facebook’s privacy settings to limit what’s sent to third parties.
Spotify notes that “If you don’t agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, then please don’t use the Service.” While this sounds pretty harsh, what else do you expect the company to say? As my esteemed ex-colleague and friend points out, it’s very easy to have a knee-jerk reaction to privacy policies. Spotify is clearly, with this privacy policy, capable of gathering a lot of data about us, especially through Facebook. Yes, the company could have done a better job at explaining why it might access your data, rather than have its CEO explaining the minutia on Twitter. Yes, it can probably take those explanations and add them into the policy. But no, this isn’t the end of the world, it’s really just a lot of fuss about some very simple future and present app permissions.
Filed under:
Internet, Software
Via:
Wired
Source:
Spotify, (blog post)
Tags: app, music, musicstreaming, privacy, privacypolicy, spotify
The agonizingly slow decline of Adobe Flash Player
This story on Adobe Flash was supposed to turn out a bit differently.
The idea was to talk with some of the biggest websites still using Adobe’s browser plugin, which has fallen out of favor within tech circles for its constant security issues and thirst for system resources. Maybe they could explain why Flash is still necessary, offering a counterpoint to the resounding calls to end its existence.
Instead, most of the proprietors of Flash-reliant websites I contacted didn’t want to talk at all. HBO, NBC, CBS, Zynga, King, Showtime, Pandora, and Spotify—all of which require Flash on their desktop sites—declined to comment. Major League Baseball, Slacker Radio, Hulu, and the BBC didn’t respond to inquiries.
My attempted survey wasn’t a total failure. Among the sites that were willing to talk, all of them are planning to move beyond Flash Player within a year or so. But even if the era of Flash is winding down, it will be a while until it’s completely wiped from the web.
What’s Wrong With Flash
If you need an explainer on why Adobe Flash Player must go, the best resource remains a five-year-old essay by Steve Jobs. At the time, Jobs was merely explaining why Flash would never show up on iPhones and iPads. But today much of the 1,700-word missive serves as takedown of the technology as a whole, applying just as well to laptops and desktop PCs.
Flash is also a notorious resource hog.
Security, for instance, remains a major concern, with new exploits popping up on a regular basis. In one recent example, hackers were even able to break through the sandboxing that’s meant to minimize vulnerabilities in Google Chrome. Flash is also a notorious resource hog, which is a problem as laptops become thinner, lighter, and more reliant on power efficiency for long battery life.
All of this has brought calls to kill Flash to a fever pitch, not just on mobile devices, but everywhere. Alex Stamos, Facebook’s chief security officer, wrote on Twitter last month that Adobe should set a firm end-of-life date for the plugin. Meanwhile, an “Occupy Flash” website has popped up, urging users to uninstall Flash and asking developers to use alternative technologies such as HTML5.
Still, a mass exodus or firm cutoff for Flash would be easier said than done.
Flash: still required all over the webMoving Beyond Flash
Despite the pressure from tech circles, the sites I spoke with said they simply weren’t able to start moving away from Flash until recently, when better technology become available. And even now, it’s going to take time for them to finish building the necessary tools.
“Originally, Flash was necessary to solve a couple problems,” says Adam Denenberg, chief technical officer for streaming music service iHeartRadio. “Streaming was difficult, especially for live stations, and there were no real http-supported streaming protocols that offered the flexibility of what was required a few years back.”
While Denenberg says there’s not much reason to deploy a new Flash-based streaming solution at this point, iHeartRadio still needs time to make the transition from its existing platform. The company already uses HTTP Live Streaming for its own online radio stations, but some of its third-party broadcasters still rely on Flash. An internal project is under way to convert those sources to HTTP Live Streaming on the fly, and the company also has to finish rebuilding its own media player in HTML5. All told, iHeartRadio hopes to be completely Flash-free by the end of the year.
Autodesk, meanwhile, is wading in slowly with an HTML5- and WebGL-based version of its Pixlr online photo editing tools. A beta version of Pixlr Express is coming later this summer.
Even so, Pixlr has no plans to discontinue the Flash versions of its editing tools. That’s because a sizeable chunk of its users are running older browsers in legacy operating systems that don’t support HTML5 and WebGL.
That speaks to a larger issue, which is that many users outside of the tech bubble don’t particularly care whether they’re using Flash or not. Bjørn Rustberggaard, cofounder of online video editing tool WeVideo, says he hasn’t seen a lot of requests from users to offer a Flash-free version. Most of them just want the app to work regardless of what browser they’re using.
“If it’s a mom making stories about her children, or if it’s a student editing a history project, or it’s a professional journalist using it to break the news, it really doesn’t matter if the industry is getting rid of Flash, as long as it works for them,” Rustberggaard says.
Nonetheless, WeVideo has been experimenting with an HTML5 version for a few years now, and aims to offer it to users early next year. Again, the company has been waiting for certain APIs and low-level audio and video support across all major browsers. “For us, it’s basically a timing issue,” Rustberggaard says. “When will HTML be good enough so it just works?”
Slow, Steady Slip
In the end, websites won’t really need the motivation to get rid of Flash in the form of a hard cutoff date. As web technology allows for alternatives, market forces will ultimately demand that more websites make the switch of their own volition.
With HTML5 and WebGL, we have an opportunity to even go beyond what Flash is today.
iHeartRadio, for instance, wants its radio stations to work in any web browser, including mobile browsers that don’t support Flash, which is a big reason why the company is pushing so hard now for an HTML5 player and HTTP Live Streaming. “When you consider the increase of traffic heading to mobile, an HTML5-supported player is even more important, and ultimately required,” Denenberg says.
The fact that Adobe has essentially stopped trying to do anything new and innovative with Flash is also prompting developers to move on. Looking forward, Autodesk’s Heermann expects that Pixlr’s HTML5 and WebGL versions will include new features, while supporting platforms that aren’t as Flash-friendly.
“Flash is maintenance mode,” Heermann says. “Adobe’s still fixing bugs and security problems, and it’s a reliable platform, but with HTML5 and WebGL, we have an opportunity to even go beyond what Flash is today.”
Even the ability to attract developer talent could be a liability if websites stick to Flash. That’s a major reason WeVideo is looking to switch, despite a lack of requests from users. “Developers are passionate about technology, and nobody wants to spend a lot of hours maintaining and developing something that they think is dead,” Rustberggaard says. “So to motivate your tech team, you really have to show that you’re ahead of the curve in terms of using technology.”
Those forces seem to be working in more than just anecdotes. Five years ago, 28.9 of websites used Flash in some way, according to Matthias Gelbmann, managing director at web technology metrics firm W3Techs. As of August, Flash usage had fallen to 10.3.
But larger websites have a longer way to go. Flash persists on 15.6 of the top 1,000 sites, Gelbmann says. That’s actually the opposite situation compared to a few years ago, when Flash was used on 22.2 of the largest sites, and 25.6 of sites overall.
In other words, the larger the site, the slower it is to move away from Flash—and, perhaps, the more ashamed it is to admit it.
[Lead image: Flickr user Thecrazyfilmgirl]
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- Reddit Just Hired Its First-Ever CTO
- Company That Blocked Wi-Fi Hotspots At Conventions Must Pay $750,000 Fine To FCC
Filed under:
Software
Tags: adobe, fastcompany, flash, flashplayer, partner, syndicated
Yahoo Weather warns you about rain in time to find an umbrella
Weather apps are quite handy, and now Yahoo’s mobile software is even more helpful. The app will send you an alert 15 minutes before rain or snow is expected to start so you have enough time to prepare. The new feature offers warnings similar to Dark Sky’s weather info. That app takes readings from the barometric sensors in users’ iPhones, though. What’s more, Yahoo says its Weather software is more accurate too, with the ability to zoom in on small areas should the need arise. Of course, you want to take a slightly different approach to getting your forecast, you could always go the route of an aspiring meteorologist.
Source:
iTunes, Google Play
Tags: android, app, ios, mobilepostcross, software, update, weather, yahoo, yahooweather
Google Photos will now automatically surface pictures you took in years past
The revamped Google Photos service that was introduced at I/O this year is already one of our favorite ways to manage our ever-growing image collections, and Google keeps on adding features to make it better. The latest is a new tool that lets you walk down memory lane, so to speak. The Google Photos “assistant” will now show you cards that contain images that you shot on the same day in years past, letting you reminisce about whatever exciting things you took pictures of way back when. It’s not clear yet if this new feature will show you every single photo you snapped on a given day or just a curated selection, but either way it sounds like a smart way to surface images that you may have forgotten you ever took.
Google has wisely chosen to make this an opt-in feature, so if you’re worried about being reminded of past exes or other memories you’d like to avoid, just keep the feature turned off. It otherwise seems like a smart addition to the ever-growing Google Photos feature set — the Timehop app is just one example of a service that’s found a place for itself by surfacing old memories and photos you’ve posted to social media, and Facebook has its own “on this day” feature to tickle the old nostalgia bone. Google says its new memory-surfacing features will roll out today on iOS, Android and on the web.
Source:
Google Photos (Google+)
Tags: google, GooglePhotos, nostalgia, photos, update
Here’s what our readers think of Windows 10
Three weeks have passed since Windows 10 became available for download and, judging by the user reviews left on our product page, it’s been one hell of a start. While many users seemed to agree with our positive assessment, a few of you inundated us with tales of woe, ranging from installation issues to slowdowns to crashing apps. We’ve gathered together some of the best reader reviews below to find out if Windows 10 really is a “must have” upgrade now, or if some of you might be better off waiting for a few of the kinks to be ironed out.
“I feel this OS will be easy to use for all aspects of society, even the non-technical or PC-illiterate users.” –ubertiny
Many users’ first experience with Windows 10 is going to be the upgrade/installation process, and for most it was quick and painless, with ubertiny calling it “as easy as it can get” and kingtigre finding the operation “smooth as butter.” But, while steenbag “was using Windows 10 within 10 minutes of pressing install,” jquest71 botched his first upgrade attempt and ThrashedByPC was plunged into “a maddening 72 hours of chaos and frustration,” including a download that took over 12 hours.
But even an inauspicious start couldn’t sink Windows 10 for jquest71. Once he got it running on his Surface Pro 3, he found the icons “modern and fresh,” with full-screen apps working “much, much better” for him than on Windows 8.1. Hamlinpark calls it “simple and uncluttered,” and unsivil thinks that “even the most primitive Windows users” will find the new interface easy to understand. 13xforever agrees, saying that changes to things like language preference make “sense for an average user,” although they could be a pain in the ass for hardcore polyglots. However, while ethanturk enjoys how the new start menu “functions well and looks great,” many others were less enamored with this attempt to blend the old and the new. Nafem says, “It is too long-winded to find anything,” with boed finding it “cumbersome” and “less efficient than [the] classic shell.” Chingolingo calls it “a lame attempt” at bringing back the Start button, and KenD90027 actually found it to be his “biggest letdown” about Windows 10.
“The return of the Start menu is definitely amazing; the new Edge browser, well, I can say bye-bye to third party browsers now.” — EBD
The Start menu wasn’t the only marquee feature that didn’t make a splash with our readers. If Windows 10 was supposed to be a lighter, more responsive experience, it went unnoticed by many reviewers, with JesseLim calling it only “marginally faster” and boed not noticing an improvement at all. However, he also “didn’t notice any degradation either.” DrRockDC’s Yoga 2 Pro became sluggish and outright “unusable” in tablet mode, while ThrashedByPC’s computer slowed “to a crawl.” Still, some reviewers lucked out, with ubertiny finding the OS “extremely responsive” and Sat12321 says, “My laptop boots up in 15 seconds and apps open up in a flash.”
Among those apps is Microsoft’s new built-in browser, Edge. It loaded quickly and rendered pages well for steenbag, who calls it “a monolithic step forward from IE.” EBD even went so far as to say “bye-bye” to third party browsers. But even if jquest71 found that Edge has “worked extremely well so far,” there are still a few kinks to be worked out. JesseLim says it takes up “huge resources in Flash- or Java-intensive sites,” and Hamlinpark also found a few pages “that seem to have some issues with Edge.” However, he still thinks it’s “fast and usable.”
“Cortana makes setting reminders, checking flight status info, finding places, searching the web and sending emails a breeze.” — nrao6
Cortana was another feature that left reviewers with mixed reactions. Nrao6 was delighted by her ability to set reminders and search the web, but maybe not so much by her jokes. Both EBD and jquest71 found her handy to have around, though the latter noted she’s still “a work in progress,” explaining why users like light8 may have found her “useless and laggy.” Light8 was frustrated by how “she didn’t understand what I was saying or didn’t respond when I called her,” and ThrashedByPC had problems with Cortana “trying to schedule things whenever I tried to use a search.”
However, even as users like DrRockDC, light8 and chingolingo find themselves rolling their systems back to Windows 8.1 (or even Windows 7), plenty are willing to stick with this version of Windows, and encourage others to take the plunge as well. Ubertiny calls it a “super-intelligent, clean, user-friendly OS that has all the right stuff in all the right places.” Kingtigre says it offers “the promise of a better OS,” one that is all about what you need. For nrao6, that means he can “stay focused and get my work done.” For KenD90027, it’s about being “more modern and secure.” And for EBD, it’s simply “the best Windows I have ever used.”
Filed under:
Software, Microsoft
Tags: microsoft, reviewroundup, userreviewroundup, Windows10
AIVAnet 