Apple Watch May Not Make Voice Calls at Launch; PayPal & Apple Pay Cut off White Supremacists; Nokia 8 Boasts Dubious ‘Bothie’ Photos

Posted: August 17, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Despite the very strong rumors that Apple Watch will launch with an LTE capable model, it looks like it won’t initially make voice calls. Appleinsider.com says the LTE capability will initially just work for faster data. Voice calling will likely be activated later in the year. In the meantime, the Watch will support FaceTime, Skype, and other apps that make calls, so it will still be pretty Dick Tracy. KGI Securities says it might even be early 2018 before the Watch will make cell calls over the regular carrier networks.

Apple Pay and PayPal have both cut off websites that sell Nazi apparel and materials. According to buzzfeed.com, white supremacist merch will be banned. Uber, Facebook, Twitter, MailChimp, and WordPress have also taken some live of action against the groups. Earlier, Airbnb had cancelled lodging attempts by white supremicist groups trying to book in Charlottesville.

In a sign that feature creep has gotten to the point of ridiculousness, the new Nokia 8, an otherwise good hero smartphone, has introduced the ‘bothie.’ Mashable.com reports that the phone has a feature called Dual Sight, that lets you view the back and front cams on a split screen, and shoot simultaneous photos with them. The ‘bothie’ feature works on both photos and video, and can be live streamed to social media. It’s $701, and rolls out in September. If you buy one…and it’s a nice phone…PLEASE don’t post ‘bothies!’

iPhone 8 May Get Iris Scanner; Samsung GearS3 Smartwatch Gets LTE Cell Connection

Posted: September 1, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

iphone-iris-scanner

According to macrumors.com, citing a Chinese source, Apple will give the 10th anniversary iPhone iris scanning. It’s not clear if this would add an additional layer of security, or replace Touch ID. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 just rolled out with an iris scanner a few weeks ago. Some sources think it will be additional deeper security, as it takes at least as long to line up the eyes with the scanner as it does for Touch ID to read your fingerprints. This is also the approach Samsung has taken.

Speaking of Samsung, they announced the Gear S3 smartwatch yesterday. It’s something of a monster watch at 46mm, but does have optional LTE cellular ability. Arstechinca.com reports Samsung is sticking with their Tizen operating system. The biggest Apple watch is 42mm. Samsung promises 3-4 days per charge, and the watch can use your current cell phone number on most systems, and whether your cell phone is Android or iOS. they also continue with a smaller, more svelte model with no cellular. Pricing is yet to be announced.

Netflix Offers Selectable Stream Quality on Cells; Periscope Tests Save Feature

Posted: May 5, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Last month, it was revealed that Netflix was quietly throttling video quality over Verizon and AT&T cellular systems. Since the word got out, theverge.com says Netflix has responded by offering users the choice of upping the quality and gobbling up more data…and the inevitable hit to your cell bill…or staying with a lower quality and saving a few bucks on your cell bill. You have to dig through the settings to find it, and the default is set to automatic. The app jumps back to higher quality automatically whenever you’re on Wi-Fi. It’s activated as of now.

Periscope is beta testing a feature to save your live streams. Up to now, they only save for 24 hours, but in the beta, you can save them indefinitely by putting hashtag save (#save) in the title. Up to now, you had to save the video to your camera roll, then upload it to YouTube or Vimeo. Thenextweb.com reports that the feature is partly because Facebook live saves closed streams on your timeline unless you delete them.

New Technology Recaptures Phone Energy and Extends Battery Life

Posted: May 5, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

One of the most ingenious gadgets ever is in the pipeline. Nikola Labs has cooked up an iPhone 6 case that harvests electricity from the cellular, wi-fi, and Bluetooth transmitters in your phone. According to techcrunch.com, they will launch a Kickstarter by the end of the month for $99, and have a case out by September. Nikola claims they can recycle enough RF energy to give you 30% more battery life! The tech can be used in other devices that have little RF transmitters like smartwatches and tablets.

Dropbox is going to drop an update for iOS in the next few weeks that will let you create Microsoft Office files from scratch online…not just edit them. Engadget.com reports that it will also bring commenting functionality. No word on when an Android release is coming, but you can bet it’s in the pipeline, too.

Google Wireless….IF You Have the Right Phone

Posted: March 8, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Google may kick off it’s rumored wireless service as soon as the end of the month. Bgr.com says the system will switch from Wi-Fi to cellular like any other, but there’s one HUGE drawback…it will only be available initially on the latest Nexus 6 smartphone. No price point has been revealed, but expect it to be very competitive…with the usual caveat that you’ll give up a bit more privacy to Google if you sign up!

We know Samsung is including wireless charging in the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge. Now, the CEO of Powermat, says their wireless charging standard will come baked in to all future Samsung smartphones that feature wireless charging. CNET.com reports that Samsung is also including the wireless standard from the Wireless Power Consortium for now. Powermat is what you see at Starbucks.

One of the big concerns of smart watches is battery life, and that goes for the Apple Watch to be hitting wrists next month. According to 9to5mac.com, The Reserve Strap will come to the rescue…recharging the watch as you wear it. It will extend the battery life to 125% of normal, and preorders are open now on their website…but it’s $249…just a hundred less than the actual Apple Watch!

Fitness Tracking Hats & Googly-Eyed Smartphones

Posted: November 11, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

There are lots of fitness trackers you wear like a watch or bracelet…how about one for your head? Lifeboat is making hats and visors that track heart rate, cadence, gait, steps and calorie consumption. Cnet.com says they’re $99 and work with Android, Windows, or iOS.

Appleinsider.com reports that Apple’s been granted a patent that uses geofencing and crowdsourcing to pinpoint dead spots in cellular networks. It’s good for users, but phone carriers will hate it!

LG has rolled out midrange smartphones with Tamagotchi like personalities. Gigaom.com says if you like a phone with big, googly eyes, check out the Aka line.