Manchester City Football Club scores its own wearables app
Manchester City has claimed the title of the world’s first football club to create an app for Android Wear smart watches.
The app is called CityMatchday Wear, and it can be downloaded for free from the Google Play store. It offers club related news, goal alerts and notifications for different events, such as yellow and red cards, penalties, team sheets, match details and substitutions.
Video chat with your pets using Microsoft's Skype -- adorable puppy video inside!
I'm a dog guy. No, really; I'm all in on this canine thing. You know those weird people that dress up their dog in clothes? I'm that guy now. Having never owned a dog growning up, I used to laugh at people that did that, but now I am having birthday parties for my little puppy. Heck, I even dress her up for Halloween and go to Petco for the costume contest! Believe it or not, I'm not alone in this behavior. More and more people are treating their pets as family members and even treating them as equals.
Today, Microsoft touts a new use for its popular communication solution, Skype -- keeping a loving eye on your pets. Yes, some people cannot bear to be away from their pets for long amounts of time. With Skype, you can monitor your furry family member using a webcam. With that said, I must warn you; there is an adorable example video below that will melt your heart.
Need a bigger cloud? Microsoft has 100GB of free OneDrive storage for you!
It's difficult, if not impossible, to have too much storage space. There has been a slow, but steady move to the cloud, and there are numerous names vying for attention, from Google Drive and Mega to OneDrive. Numbers talk, and it's the amount of free space that can sway users to one service or another.
Google has been giving away Drive storage with Chromebooks for some time, and now Microsoft is getting in on the action. Agree to receive promotional emails through Bing rewards, and you can bag yourself an extra 100GB of OneDrive storage completely free of charge for the next two years. If you're in the US, that is. Or if you use a proxy...
Forget that invitation, Sling TV comes to the masses as cord-cutters rejoice
Cutting the cord, the phrase commonly used to describe those who get rid of cable and satellite service for their entertainment, has become part of the modern lexicon. Now Sling, the box maker that enables TV sharing, has its own version of internet TV. This one is designed to compete with the likes of Hulu, Amazon Prime and Netflix, but is a bit pricier than its rivals.
Sling TV was already announced, but until now it required an invitation. The floodgates are now open as that restriction gets lifted. As of now, anyone can sign up for an account, getting access to a wealth of TV shows. These include channels such as ESPN, HGTV, Food Network and more. The first is the most intriguing -- the possibility of watching live sports without the need to use sketchy services like Wiziwig.
Imgur Pro is now free for everyone
It’s a free for all as Imgur Pro goes free for all! The image sharing site is celebrating its sixth birthday by handing out gifts to its users rather than expecting to receive them. As of today, everyone is able to take advantage of unlimited storage on the site, but of course there is a -- very slight -- catch.
You don’t get owt for nowt, and the cost of free in this case is ads. Imgur has long been ad-supported, and now Imgur Pro has gone down the same route. Now that everyone has access to a Pro account, they have access to more than just extra storage space.
Build multimedia HTML quizzes with QuizFaber
Quizzes have been used to test our knowledge since the dawn of schooling, and they’re still just as effective today.
They're not just for teachers, either. A well-designed quiz can help anyone find out more about themselves, learn about something that interests them, maybe compete with friends.
Is evolution rather than innovation the best focus for Apple's iOS 9?
Asking someone to switch from their operating system of choice is akin to asking them to switch partners when they’re in a happy relationship. But time and time again, Apple, Google and Microsoft try to attract new users with redesigns, killer features, and headline-grabbing excitement. It's an approach that Microsoft is using for Windows 10, but Apple could use a different tactic with the release of iOS 9.
If you've got an iPad, iPad mini, iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, the next version of iOS could be slightly lacking in the 'new' department. Reports suggest that rather than taking the wraps off a raft of new features, Apple is instead focusing firmly on improving stability and performance of its mobile OS.
$1 million prize goes to collision-resistant search and rescue drone
A drone designed to help with search and rescue operations has won the top prize of $1 million in the Drones for Good contest. The contest was held in the United Arab Emirates and when we mentioned Drones for Good a couple of weeks ago, we highlighted the Gimball entry from Flyability. It seems it wasn't just us that was impressed with this drone, as Gimball went on to win!
The Swiss drone was designed as "the world's first collision-tolerant flying robot" and it can help with search and rescue operations without fear of damaging itself or people in the area.
Google Chrome to ditch SPDY -- implementing HTTP/2
The web is unnecessarily complicated. Competing web browsers support differing technologies and standards, leading to varying performance and compatibility issues. The problem is, it may be naïve to think there are truly open standards. True, there are standards that can be pointed to, but stop and think for a moment -- who decided on the standards? In other words, if the web is truly open, why does it seem like big companies are steering the ship when it comes to the major decisions?
Google is one such company that is making decisions that will form the future of the web, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. The thing to take issue with is that the company could arguably have a conflict of interest when contributing to web standards. Why? It develops its own web browser (Chrome) and associated operating system (Chrome OS). Today, Google announces that it is abandoning SPDY for the HTTP/2 protocol in Chrome.
OnePlus One -- the flagship killer -- to sell without invite every Tuesday
Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus made a big splash last year with its OnePlus One flagship smartphone. The handset packs in the best in class hardware specifications while maintaining an enticing and comparatively cheaper $300 price tag. The phone -- which is often touted as the "flagship killer" -- however, garnered press for another reason: for just how hard it is to purchase the darn handset! But here comes the good news, OnePlus is finally cosying up with the way it sells handsets, making it easier for consumers to purchase the One.
The company sells the handsets through an "invitation" model wherein it requires a customer to have the invitation code before an order can be placed. If that wasn’t confusing already, the invitation is also pretty hard to collect. Among other ways, one has to take part in the company’s social media contests and share OnePlus related updates on their social media accounts. But those days are finally behind us...at least for one day a week. In a blog post, the company has announced that it will no longer ask users for an invitation on Tuesdays.
UFOs meet the DMCA via an unlikely source -- Ancestry.com
The DMCA has been the subject of controversy since it was passed, being used and, in many cases, misused to try and take down content. Now we encounter what may just be the strangest example of misuse. Alien visitors, or at least the investigation of their possible existence, have run up against genealogy website Ancestry.com. Talk about strange encounters!
The behemoth of the genealogy industry is strong-arming The Black Vault to take down records that are in the public domain. On the surface this may seem like a laughable claim, but the company is actually serious about it.
Meraki MX Firewalls: Why cloud managed networking simply rocks [Review]
Two of the largest network gaming services, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, took unplanned hiatuses on Christmas Day 2014. And for their credit, both Sony and Microsoft were not the culprits for the outages. Newly infamous hacking group Lizard Squad used DDoS attacks against the gaming networks to chalk up part publicity stunt and part targeted advertising for their new DDoS-for-hire service.
At this point, the who and why of this story aren't anything new if you've been watching IT news the last few weeks. But something that hasn't gotten as much attention is the "how" of Lizard Squad's Xmas Day barrage last year.
Celebrating Clean Out Your Computer Day with a BetaNews giveaway [Closed]
Most people may be inclined to think that today is just another Monday, but tech enthusiasts all around the globe know better. That's because the second Monday of February is when we celebrate Clean Out Your Computer Day. It's time for our PCs and laptops to get some well-deserved TLC, folks!
Of course, Clean Out Your Computer Day shouldn't be only about plain-old computers. Our mobile devices are just as important, so feel free to include them too! Here are some of the things you can do on Clean Out Your Computer Day.
Time to switch to Google Hangouts as Gtalk dies in a week
The writing has been on the wall for quite some time now, but the deadline is finally here. Google's Gtalk service is set to be discontinued as of 16 February, and from this time users will have to use Google Hangouts or seek out an alternative.
This is not the first online service that Google has killed, and it certainly won't be the last. While Hangouts is generally regarded as a superior service, there are still diehards who will hold out until the very last minute to switch -- or they might jump ship completely in favor of something like WhatsApp.
Technology for business -- get the big picture
Technology is everywhere. Whether you’re ordering lunch at noon, doing some weekend shopping or at work monitoring business performance, everything happens with the help of machines. The cash register at the deli and the complex network that supports a bank must work together seamlessly to deliver the service required for fast orders and accurate payment processing from credit cards or smartphones.
Customers expect more all the time from the companies they do business with. The challenge for any organization is to grow quickly while keeping costs down as demand grows. That's why all businesses have refocused on IT for 2015. It's a priority that drives differentiation. According to Gartner, global IT spending will grow 2.4 percent to $3.8 trillion this year on purchases of devices, data center systems, enterprise software, IT services and telecom services.
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