HBO NOW Premieres on Google Daydream; Microsoft Turning Phones into Real PCs

Posted: December 8, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

If you are lucky and well healed enough to have a Google Daydream View headset, you know there hasn’t exactly been a flood of material for the VR platform. Well brace yourself…techcrunch.com says HBO’s standalone subscription app HBO NOW is available for the Daydream platform. Google also announced that Netflix will be available soon as well. Keep in mind that the 2D shows will still not be in 3D, but HBO has movies in its library with 3D versions, and Netflix will be able to offer its 3D content up, too.

Microsoft is bringing a full version of Windows 10 to mobile, including desktop app support for ARM chips. According to theverge.com, Redmond demoed running Win 10 on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chip today, including HD video playback, Adobe Photoshop, and Microsoft Office. Microsoft put out Continuum for phones last year which emulates a PC, but you can’t run Chrome or Photoshop on it. It’s been tried unsuccessfully before, but maybe this will be the one that actually gives you a full blown PC in your pocket. Stay tuned.

Apple Going for Glasshole Market; Twitter Adds Mute to Convos and Hashtags; Nintendo’s ‘Super Mario Run a Month Away; Spotify Has Been Wearing SSDs-Patch Is Out

Posted: November 15, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Yes, they were clunky, but that wasn’t the main reason people who had Google Glass were called ‘glassholes.’ Apple has revolutionized portable music players with the iPod and phones with the iPhone, can they do the same with digital glasses? Bloomberg.com says they’re working on some. A great AR headset would go a long way in bringing in the future, which at lot of people think will involve AR. The real trick will be having small enough components to produce a good AR experience, and batteries that power it which won’t weigh you down. It’s a huge challenge, but think about the iPod and iPhone…maybe by 2018 we’ll see the iAR or will it be Apple AR?

A lot of criticism has been thrown at Facebook and Twitter over fake news and trolls since the election. Now, bgr.com reports that Twitter has added a mute feature to conversations and hashtags to try to contain harassment. Previously, you could only mute individuals, and their friends could still gang up on a person. You will also now be able to mute keywords and hashtags.

Super Mario Run for iPhone and iPad will launch December 15th. Geekwire.com says it will sell for $10, and is specifically designed for mobile devices. Gamers can try before they by for free with elements of the games 3 modes. The game is designed to accomodate one-handed play….Mario runs forward on his own. Just tap to make him jump.

After sucking up life out of SSDs for months, Spotify has released a fix. According to bgr.com, a bug has allowed the app to continually rewrite data to your drive, even while in idle mode…up to 5 to 10 gigs an hour. Over a day, it would write up to 700 gigs. SSDs have a limited number of writes available, although most should last 10 years with normal use. Look for V. 1.0.42, it’s out and you should have it or upgrade to it on your desktop or laptop.

Samsung Making an 11k Mobile Display-Mimics 3D

Posted: July 10, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

You haven’t even upgraded to a 4k TV yet, and now Samsung is gearing up to build an 11k mobile display. Engadget.com reports that they expect to have it out by 2018. At 2250 pixels per inch, it would be 4 times higher resolution than their existing quad HD displays. The killer app? It would simulate 3D without the annoying glasses.

Next week could see refreshed iPods. iPods? Yes, Apple still makes them and people still buy them. The Nano and Shuffle may just get new pink, gold, and dark blue colors, but the Touch looks to be upgraded to a 64 bit processor…probably the one in the iPhone 5S, and Apple’s M7 motion processor. According to appleinsider.com, the new iPods should drop on July 14th.

Mobile Moving Up In Google Searches

Posted: March 1, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Google has an upcoming change to search…engadget.com says on April 21st, they will roll out an updated algorithm that puts mobile versions of websites higher in the search results. The search giant also has a mobile-friendly test tool available for website operators to check that Google recognizes their mobile version.

Samsung has frequently been dinged for copying Apple. According to bgr.com, the tables are about to be turned, as Apple may be working on a virtual reality headset like the Gear VR. Cupertino already has some VR patents, but new job listings indicate things are heating up on developing an Apple VR headset.

Electric cars get all the glory, but a co-founder of Tesla says its electric trucks that will matter more. The verge.com reports that Ian Wright claims companies should retrofit gas guzzling trucks with his Wrightspeed range-extended power trains. Wright is already converting 25 FedEx trucks to his system, and says they’ll save 35 grand a year each in fuel and $20,000 in maintenance.

The Galaxy S6 May be Metal, Not Plastic!

Posted: October 7, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

After testing the water with the Galaxy Alpha, Samsung may be going all in on a metal flagship phone. Bgr.com says a leaked video shows the upcoming Galaxy S6 with a metal frame and back.

This will bring howls of protest from purists, but Google is expanding its definition of news by adding Reddit to search results, according to Engadget.com.

We have reached a dubious milestone…cnet.com says there are now more active mobile devices on earth than people. The Census Bureau’s world population center says we’re a few million shy of 7.2 billion people, but GSMA Intelligence shows over 7.2 billion active SIM cards.