Drones are popular little toys, but they're not the easiest things to control. While hand gestures may not change that too much, donning a HoloLens and flying a physical object with a wave of your hand at least makes the process feel a lot more like a telekinesis.
Mobile data is expensive. The internet connection that comes with your cell phone plan is generally limited to a certain amount of gigabytes that can be downloaded before your monthly cap kicks in, at which point you run the risk of incurring costly overage fees.
We're so used to seeing things in particular ways that anything different just doesn't make sense to our brains. Culturally, we like to read things from left to right, and from top to bottom. Change that and our brains struggle to adjust.
Back in August, Google unveiled a new YouTube Gaming service meant to compete with e-sports streaming sites like Twitch. At its launch, the service was capable of broadcasting desktop PC gameplay, but when it came to the mobile segment, users were only capable of viewing streams hosted by others.
Oops... did you forget to connect to a Wi-Fi network before streaming HBO GO on your iPhone? While those episodes of The Wire may have been absolutely life-changing, your three-digit cellular bill is definitely going to hit you a little harder.
BlinkFeed completely changed the way I access new updates from Facebook and Twitter, but when I switched to the Google Play Edition of the HTC One, I lost access to the launcher. BlinkFeed is available in the Google Play Store, but HTC has not opened it up yet for all devices yet. While there are ways to port BlinkFeed over to other devices, it's reliability is dependent on the ROM, sometimes causing bugs and crashes.
Aside from the newer HTC One M8 and Samsung Galaxy S5, the Nexus 5 still has one of the fastest processors on the market today. However, despite its superpowers, some graphically intensive games can still have a bit of lag to them during gameplay.
Starting at 20:00 CET (11:00 PST, 14:00 EST), you can stream the live feed from Samsung's Unpacked 5 event, happening today at Mobile World Congress. While the company may have more than one trick up their sleeve, the star of the show will be the launch of the Galaxy S5.
Repetitive use of apps over time will eat up your storage space with by caching data on your device. This can be useful at first, speeding up your apps by not requiring them to re-download frequently used data, but as a cache grows, even the initial performance improvements can be outweighed by the unwelcomed loss of storage space. And if a cache grows too large, the time it takes an app to access the cached data can be even slower than the time it would've taken to re-download the data in th...
The Xbox One is pinning its success on the fact that is much more than just a video game console. Microsoft is looking for the Xbox One to become the centerpiece for family entertainment, which is why they included features like multitasking, TV controls, and apps.
You can find a ton of live wallpapers for your Android device on Google Play, but the more alluring interactive ones are a harder to come by, which can bring your home screen to life using a few finger swipes and taps.
This week, another guest returns to our Steampunk R&D show for the second time, Thomas Willeford. In our very first podcast, Thomas talked to us about creating his empire; this time we most notably talk about his recent appearance on the Science Channel's program Odd Folks Home, in an episode entitled "Blow Off Some Steampunk". Thomas Willeford is the owner and operator of Brute Force Studios, and has been responsible for some of Steampunk's most recognizable props and accessories, such as th...
In a huge win for Windows 8 and Surface owners everywhere, a free SNES emulator appeared in the Windows Store last month called Snes8x—and it's awesome.
The Emperor of the Red Fork Empire, aka Justin Stanley, joins us again on Steampunk R&D. This time the subject matter is a little more meandering than last time when I interviewed him about his background as an artist, maker, and performer. If you want, you can check out that podcast first before listening to the latest one below. In this podcast, we talk about current events in the Steampunk world, such as TeslaCon 3 & 4, defining Steampunk, Lantern City, the TSA, and more. We may or may not...
Justin Stanley, better known to many as the Emperor of the Red Fork Empire, is both an artist and a personality within the Steampunk community. His contributions range far and wide, and in this episode of Steampunk Research and Development, he talks a lot about his artistic vision, how to be an artist, and how best to give and receive artistic criticism.
This week on the Steampunk Research and Development Podcast, our guest is Joey Marsocci, better known to the world as Dr. Grymm. He's a full-time, professional Steampunk maker, and is the owner and operator of Dr. Grymm Laboratories. He's written several books and has worked as a designer at companies such as Hasbro and Disney. In fact, he worked with Disney to design the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attractions for both Paris and Tokyo Disney parks.
Today, on our first episode of Steampunk Research and Development, we'll be interviewing Thomas Willeford, owner and operator of Brute Force Leather. Thomas is a man of many talents, and has worked in a vast array of fields. His Steampunk work can be seen in his book, Steampunk Gear and Gadgets, as well as on the television show Castle. Thomas is also one of the creative consultants on the upcoming television show Lantern City.
Tripwires are a new mechanic released in Minecraft 1.3, and people are still trying to figure out how best to use them. Minecart returns are a great idea, but what about traps?
Carolyn Haynie has been a cat groomer for over 40 years. Carolyn is going to talk about in this series of videos how to feed your kitten healthy food.
There's an epidemic on the Internet, and the disease—Facebook. It's an addiction comparable to a hot cup of coffee in the morning or a soothing cigarette throughout the day—in worse case scenarios, a hit from the crack pipe. If you're on Facebook, you know what I'm talking about. You're addicted to finding out what's going on with your friends and addicted to telling those friends everything you're doing. You can't stop, even when you're at work.
Twitter can be a wonderful place for people to express their emotions and chat with each other in brief. However, it can also be a breeding ground for hateful comments, foul language, and a whole lot of political talk.
Have you ever wondered how some people know you're online even though you swear you set the Messenger app to hide your active status? No, you're not crazy — it's an issue with two conflicting settings, and there's an easy fix.
Now that the NCAA Basketball Tournament is underway, 7-Eleven has decided to launch an augmented reality experience to remind basketball fans where they can quench their thirst throughout March Madness.
The word on the street is Android users want a dark mode. With the increased usage of AMOLED panels on smartphones (including some midrange devices), there is a considerable demand for dark themes and their battery saving benefits. Recently, Nova just added the feature to Google Discover.
Whether it's an ex you can't stand, that annoyingly political friend of a friend, or good old fashioned trolls, the block feature on Facebook can be a great way to de-stress your feed. It will keep people from contacting you, and it will also prevent them from viewing your profile altogether. It's not just a tool for the full desktop website — in fact, the blocked list is easy to manage right from your phone.
On Tuesday, on the one-year anniversary of the announcement of its AR Camera platform, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerburg revealed at the company's F8 developers conference that the platform will be extended to the company's Instagram and Messenger apps.
Given the volatility of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP), it's good to keep track of your transaction history and get a better idea where you stand financially. Though tracking down past trades on Binance may seem convoluted at first, it gets surprisingly intuitive once you get the hang of it.
As cryptocurrencies gain mainstream acceptance, it's not far-fetched to think that we'll one day be able to buy alt coins like Ripple (XRP) and Stellar (XLM) using debit cards and bank accounts. Until then, we'll have to rely on using bitcoins and ethereum to buy digital coins. Thankfully, depositing and withdrawing cryptocurrencies with Binance is relatively hassle-free.
Let's say you receive $10 from a friend through Apple Pay Cash via an iMessage. You could spend that money in the App Store or at any retailer that supports Apple Pay using your Apple Pay Cash card. If you'd rather save it or use it for bills, it's easy to transfer that money to your bank account in iOS 11.2.
With iOS 11.2's introduction of Apple Pay Cash, you can send and receive money to others directly through iMessage, using the convenience and security Apple Pay is known for. However, if you want to make sure your efforts go uninterrupted, you'll want to make sure you verify your identity with Apple.
You can retweet on Twitter, and you can reblog on Tumblr, but you cannot regram on Instagram. Until now, that is. For years, third-party apps have made it their business to help Instagram users share content from other users. With some new developments, Instagram looks to render those apps obsolete by adding a native regram button to the official Instagram application.
This week, Samsung officially kicked off the Oreo Beta Program for the Galaxy S8 and S8+ in North America and several other markets. The full list of changes is quite substantial, so we'll be running through them in a series of posts detailing what's new. First up, the Galaxy phones inherit notification channels from Android 8.0.
The Stories feature on Instagram has a pretty great editing program, and it's one that I think is extremely undervalued. Instagram Stories goes beyond just its Snapchat-like features, but also allows you to create more creative and original content to post on your actual profile page.
You can pinch yourself, but you're not dreaming. Sprint is actually offering a year of (mostly) free, unlimited service for anyone who switches to the carrier. The only stipulation is that you must bring your phone with you, and it has to be one of the 27 eligible devices.
Customer service just got a lot more interesting. Construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar just announced official availability of what they're calling the CAT LIVESHARE solution to customer support, which builds augmented reality capabilities into the platform.
As fun as it is to see Fido's face light up when you feed him table scraps, American dogs are getting fat. The good news is that research is homing in on nutritional strategies to boost canine capabilities to maintain a healthy weight.
Shopping around for a good broadband company or mobile carrier may soon be as easy as shopping for cereal, thanks to the introduction of broadband consumer labels by the FCC for both fixed and mobile broadband.
We have all seen videos of people walking off of platforms and into street signs because they were too distracted by their phones to pay attention. This has become such a problem that cities have even considered fining pedestrians for texting and walking.
Update: August 1, 2014 Earlier today, President Obama signed into law the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, making the act of unlocking your unsubsidized cell phone 100% legal.
Keeping up with current events is a good step towards becoming a well-informed person, but sometimes it's a chore. In-between work, school, commuting, social lives, and hobbies, it can be extremely hard to find time to pick up a newspaper or browse CNN to find out what's going on in the world.