Apple videos show how to get the most from its HomePod speaker
The launch of the Apple HomePod was delayed last year, but the iPhone-maker's smart speaker was finally released a couple of days ago. Reviews are -- generally speaking -- positive, but early adopters have a few quibbles.
Whether you're thinking about jumping on the bandwagon, you already have a HomePod, or you just want to know more about them, Apple has released a series of videos that serve as a handy combination of tutorials and an introduction to its latest hardware.
Xiaomi deletes MIUI vs Android One Twitter poll after the voting didn't go its way
Which is better -- the MIUI skin, or Android One? This is what Chinese phone manufacturer Xiaomi decided to ask on Twitter, and the results were... interesting.
Presumably the company was rather hoping that Twitter users would vote for its own MIUI which it could then rub in Google's face -- but the poll actually went against Xiaomi. Rather than leave the results of the vote up for anyone to see, the company decided to simply delete it and pretend it never happened.
Hate the Snapchat redesign? Here's how to get back the old look
Change is great, but it is not always well-received. Take the latest redesign of Snapchat, for instance -- the outpouring of hatred for the new look has been incredible.
Users are pleading Snapchat to revert to the old design, complaining that the algorithm-powered interface makes things impossible to find. Of course, the company is extremely unlikely to change back to the old look, but if you're an iPhone user, there are steps you can take to get the old app back. Wondering how to get old Snapchat back? Read on!
Apple HomePod: 'wow' but 'uh-oh'
HomePod arrived yesterday at 9:40 a.m. PST; thank-you UPS for prompt delivery of my preorder. My initial reaction: Wow and uh-oh. The wow harkens back to the original iPod, which Apple released in October 2001. The company's design ethic treated the overall experience as the user interface: Attach FireWire cable to Mac and device, music syncs. iTunes manages music on the Mac; for iPod, a simple scroll-wheel navigates tracks displayed on a small screen. The uncomplicated and understated approach defied the UX of every other MP3 sold by all other manufacturers.
HomePod is a defining, roots-return that's well-deserving of the portion of name in common with its forebear; both share in common emphasis on music listening as primary benefit.
Google Trips will help plan your travel with the minimum of hassle
We’re not sure about you, but just planning your next vacation seems to take as long as the vacation itself. You want to make sure you visit the best places, eat at recommended restaurants and make the most of the destination.
It’s hard to find a comprehensive app which contains everything you might need to plan your route, timeline and distances from your hotel. If you’re on a tight schedule, say a weekend away in a new city, it’s really hard to get this route wrong and walk long distances to get to your destination.
VLC 3.0 'Vetinari' arrives, bringing HDR, 8K and Chromecast support
In the world of media playing software, VLC is a perennial favorite -- and with good reason. This open source tool is one of the most feature-packed players out there, and it has just received a huge and long-awaited upgrade with the release of VLC 3.0 'Vetinari'.
Many software releases are described as being major or significant, but VLC 3.0 really is a huge release -- it's a truly massive update from its predecessor. Available for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, Chromebooks and Windows Phone, just about everyone can take advantage of the power of this incredible player.
Uber and Waymo make surprise settlement over claims of stolen trade secrets
Uber has agreed to a settlement with Google's self-driving technology unit, Waymo, over claims that that the company stole trade secrets during the acquisition of Otto. Google's parent company, Alphabet, sued Uber a year ago, and now a payment of $245 million has been agreed.
The financial settlement to be received by Waymo includes 0.34 percent of Uber's equity based on a valuation of $72 billion. Uber CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, expressed "regret" about the matter, and said he wanted to correct "mistakes of the past."
India hits Google with $21 million fine for search bias
Google is certainly no stranger to accusations of abusing its position to its own advantage, and the company has now been fined 1.36 billion rupees ($21.17 million) by India's antitrust watchdog.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said Google was guilty of "search bias" and had been abusing its dominance in online web search and online search advertising. Particular criticism was leveled at Google's promotion of its own flight search page.
How to install and use the fantastic Kodi alternative that's gaining in popularity
Kodi is a superb, and very flexible free media center, but in the past year or so legal crackdowns, court cases, vanishing add-ons and other bad publicity have made people wary of it, and understandably so. It’s not illegal to use Kodi, but installing add-ons that let you stream copyrighted content for free could get you into trouble.
In the wake of all this bad publicity, rival streaming service Mobdro has been gaining in popularity. The app can be installed on any Android device, including phones, tablets, Amazon's Fire TV Stick, and Google's Chromecast 2.
Apple confirms but downplays iOS source code leak
Apple may have just released iOS 11.3 beta 2, but the attention of world turned to the iOS source code that leaked to GitHub. The iPhone maker has confirmed that code for iOS 9's iBoot had leaked, but stressed its age.
The company said that the leak does not pose a security threat to users, insisting that "the security of our products doesn't depend on the secrecy of our source code." But while Apple tries to play down the leak, there's no denying that it is highly significant and an unprecedented embarrassment.
ADATA launches rugged HD710M Pro and HD710A Pro USB external hard drives
Do you care about your data? If yes, I hope you are backing it up. While I swear by the cloud for backups, only a fool would trust their important data to another company’s servers alone. In other words, it is smart to leverage the cloud, but you should also store your data locally. Redundancy is key, folks.
For locally stored data, I recommend external storage solutions. Why? These drives can be easily taken with you in an emergency, or physically locked in a safe if needs be. To take things further, a rugged external drive with water resistance is ideal. Today, ADATA unveils a new USB 3.1 gen 1 (USB 3.0) durable drive that meets that need.
Facebook is testing a 'downvote' option -- just don't call it a dislike button
Facebook has confirmed that it is currently testing what it describes as a "downvote" button. But the social network is at pains to stress that this is absolutely not the "dislike" button people have been asking for.
The idea behind the feature is to give users the chance to downvote comments -- it does not appear to give the same option to posts. In currents tests, downvoting only appears on public Pages, and it's something that’s unlikely to spread to profiles.
Cylance brings enterprise-grade security to employees' homes
Businesses go to great lengths to protect their corporate networks, but when staff take work home it can be hard to ensure data is kept secure when using personal devices and accessing data from the cloud.
In an innovative move, endpoint protection company Cylance is offering employees of companies that use its software the chance to use Cylance's enterprise-grade AI-powered endpoint prevention to protect their family's home PCs and Macs against malicious attackers.
Samsung rolling out Android Oreo update for Galaxy S8
Samsung has kicked off the Android Oreo roll-out for the Galaxy S8, three months after introducing a public beta program. The first to get it are the testers who enrolled, starting with those in Germany.
What's interesting is that, even though version 8.1 exists, Samsung is pushing Android 8.0 Oreo. That's pretty much what happened last time round with the Galaxy S7, which received Android 7.0 Nougat, when 7.1 was available.
Prediction #6 -- AI comes of age, this time asking the questions, too
Paul Saffo says that communication technologies historically take 30 years or more to find their true purpose. Just look at how the Internet today is different than it was back in 1988. I am beginning to think this idea applies also to new computing technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). We’re reading a lot lately about AI and I think 2018 is the year when AI becomes recognized for its much deeper purpose of asking questions, not just finding answers.
Some older readers may remember the AI bubble of the mid-1980s. Sand Hill Road venture capitalists invested (and lost) about $1 billion in AI startups that were generally touted as expert systems. An expert system attempted to computerize professional skills like reading mammograms or interpreting oil field seismic logs. Computers were cheaper than medical specialists or petroleum geologists, the startup founders reckoned, so replacing these professionals would not only save money, it would allow much broader application of their knowledge. Alas, it didn’t work for two reasons: 1) figuring-out how experts make decisions was way harder than the AI researchers expected, and; 2) even if you could fully explain the decision-making process it required a LOT more computing power than originally expected. Circa 1985 it probably was cheaper to hire a doctor than to run a program to replace one.
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