Back in 2009, largely due to the sheer number of users demanding it, Spotify added an amazing little feature — the ability to disable volume normalization. While the feature is nothing more than a toggle on the visual front, the audible difference is far superior and moons apart.
Imagine for a moment that a VPN is like putting on a disguise for your computer. This disguise works to change your IP address, secure your traffic with encryption, and mask your location to bypass regional restrictions. This makes it a helpful tool for both whistleblowers and journalists. VPNs are also built into the well-known Tor Browser.
The Google Assistant is great about understanding what you actually mean, so you don't have to issue exact commands like you do with Amazon Alexa, for instance. But even though it's a master of colloquial speech, it could still be better, and that's where shortcuts come into play.
If you have a large media library, you should definitely have the Plex server installed on your computer. If you do, you can just install Plex for Android or iPhone, then you'll have access to all of your music, movies, and TV shows anywhere.
Adobe Premiere Clip is a great mobile app for users with little to no editing experience. Its automatic editor will sort your clips into a fun video in seconds, leaving you to just choose the music. But what if you're looking for more than automatic settings? What if you want some serious control over your project, from the editing to the way the image looks?
If you have movies and videos stored on Box, Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive, you should definitely be using the VLC app for iPhone. After setting a few things up, VLC will let you stream videos directly from any of these services with a proper video player UI, complete with gesture controls.
Though not quite as agile as the world famous plump plumber Mario, Toad, the lovable fungus, is still one of the most fun characters to use while playing Super Mario Run. Thankfully, he is also by far the easiest character to unlock in the game, requiring no special tasks to complete.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get your mind out of the gutter. Search histories can and should be managed. Many folks are uncomfortable knowing that every video they click and every phrase they search is being recorded and saved, and YouTube is no exception.
Zently — the mobile app for renters — is taking on Venmo with its newest feature. Traditionally used to automate rent payments, deliver rent checks for free, and communicate with your landlord, it now allows you to connect to your bank account and split bills with housemates. Following the addition of Zelle to several major banks apps — to allow users to transfer money to their contacts — the battle of the mobile payment apps is getting increasingly fierce. With this new update, Zently is als...
Ah, the sand between your feet, the sun on your skin, and the debt you're accumulating. However strong my sense of wanderlust may be, I still can't justify dropping thousands of dollars on a vacation. Fortunately, a new site — Wander — promises to help you book vacations that match your budget.
Last month, AT&T made headlines with its disastrous launch of its 5G Evolution network (spoiler alert: it wasn't actually 5G). T-Mobile responded to the embarrassing news by saying the company would be working on its own 5G network, and would take its time rolling it out. Well, T-Mobile may have just pulled an AT&T — T-Mobile is launching LTE-U in the US, and things seem pretty similar to the 5G Evolution's introduction.
Today it was revealed that Avis Budget Group will now support and maintain Waymo's driverless car fleet in Phoenix, the company's first public trial of self-driving cars. This is an unprecedented partnership in the autonomous vehicle field and conveys the steps driverless companies are taking to make their vehicles more accessible to the public.
Well, get ready to have your battery depleted if you use Google Photos. The backup app has just removed the "Backup While Charging" feature in their app.
Have you ever been on a Netflix binge and thought to yourself "man, these characters are so dumb. Why would you go back to the haunted house, Jenny? You know what's in there, and now you're going to die. This whole situation was so easily avoidable, JENNY." If you've ever thought you'd make better decisions than the characters in your favorite TV shows, Netflix has your back.
Baidu signed a cooperation agreement on June 7, the first day of the CES Asia conference, with multiple companies in the autonomous vehicles industry. The companies listed in the press release include Desay SV, United Automotive Electronics, and Hangsheng Electronics, as well as possibly additional auto manufacturers. Baidu plans to "jointly develop" upcoming intelligent driving production plans.
With autonomous technology being developed so quickly, auto companies have begun working on the next step in driverless development, passenger safety. German automotive supplier ZF has begun giving this some thought and has come up with a new kind of airbag, one that could define safety features in autonomous vehicles.
Getting support for your mental health is now as easy as opening up Facebook Messenger. By just opening up the Messenger app, you can connect to Woebot, a new chatbot developed at Stanford trained in administering cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
The US Department of Transportation says it is actively completing a previously promised revision of voluntary guidelines for driverless vehicles originally drafted by President Obama's administration.
Deleting emails can be a tedious process on the iPhone, especially since the "Trash All" options have been removed ever since iOS 10 first came out. Though likely well-intentioned, this change places an undue burden on all of us iPhone owners who now have to erase emails individually.
It was nice while it lasted. Samsung users who managed to get their hands on the Galaxy S8 or S8+ early enjoyed the ability to launch any app through the dedicated Bixby button. Unfortunately, Samsung wasn't all that down with us using the Bixby button for purposes other than its intended use — to provide quick access to Samsung's new virtual assistant.
When you're an audiophile, managing music is a labor of love. Metadata, like artist names, album thumbnails, and genres, is attached to many digital audio files, though some of the songs in your library might not have such tags, and others may have missing or incorrect information.
TrueCaller is sharing your phone activity by revealing the last time your phone was used to contacts. The application used to identify unknown callers launched in 2009 and has faced a wealth of privacy concerns before.
Chrome's text selection interface is pretty nice, but it could definitely use some improvements. For instance, when you're in Incognito Mode, you can't perform a web search for words you've highlighted. And when you're typing out a forum post or using any text input field, for that matter, there's no option to search or share any of the text you've written.
We're nearly done getting our Mac set up for hacking. If you haven't checked out previous tutorials, I'd recommend you do so first before diving right into this one.
Cancer is a complicated illness, but the more we understand it, the likelier we are to beat it. The 3D Visualisation Aesthetics Lab at the University of New South Wales took to virtual reality to help improve our odds by allowing scientists to walk through virtual representations of actual cancer cells.
We've heard a bit about Google Daydream—the new smartphone-based virtual reality platform that is supposed to provide a markedly better experience than Cardboard—but don't really know what it'll look like. Engadget claims we could find out in just a couple of weeks, since Android Nougat is already out, a necessary component of Daydream.
Data visualization has many applications in virtual and mixed reality, since a third dimension literally adds important depth to the represented information. A new app called HoloFlight is a good example of this, combining flight-tracking data and the Microsoft HoloLens to surround you with a look at every plane in the sky.
What happens if you unknowingly connect a malicious USB drive and it starts infecting your entire office network? Instead of having a panic attack and working all night to find a fix, you can just put on a mixed reality headset like Microsoft's HoloLens and point.
Depending on your carrier and the texting app that you use, sending long SMS messages from an Android phone often results in the recipient being hit with a barrage of fragmented, out of order texts.
Not content with bringing the first untethered mixed reality headset to market, Microsoft wants to expand their Windows Holographic operating system beyond HoloLens into vastly more robust technologies.
A lot more people are about to be able to use Android Auto. Google announced at I/O 2016 that you'll soon be able to use the app with only your phone, so you won't need a compatible car or third-party display unit. And if (or more likely, when) Google brings the app to iOS, Apple may lose the precious "infotainment" system battle very early in the game. The update isn't coming until later this year, but once it arrives, you'll be able to mount your phone and use Android Auto the same way that...
The highly anticipated VR headset hasn't been on the market long, but there's an issue that has some consumers, and even government officials, concerned about the Oculus Rift. You probably guessed the issue surrounds privacy and the extensive, not-so-secret way that it's collecting your personal data. The privacy concerns came about as various customers and media outlets took notice of the rather lengthy Terms and Services that pop up once you strap yourself into the Rift headset.
You gotta love Android—not only can you replace your default home screen entirely, but there are tons of options that provide alternative methods for launching apps with ease. We've covered some of these options in the past, including an app called Bar Launcher that lets you launch apps from your notification tray—but that one's starting to look a little dated these days.
Previously, you'd need to install the Google Cast extension to cast webpages from your Chrome web browser to your Chromecast-connected TV, but as of March 24th, you don't need it anymore. Casting now works natively in Google Chrome (which had been available in the Beta version for a few months), and you can activate the hidden feature right now.
If you purchased something from iTunes, the iOS App Store, iBooks Store, Apple TV App Store, or the Mac App Store and it doesn't work, didn't download, is buggy, or wasn't what you thought it was, you can get a full refund from Apple—you just have to know how to ask.
It's looking more and more likely that rumors stating that the iPhone 7 will not include a 3.5 mm headphone jack are true. Chinese websites Wei Feng and Anzhuo.cn reported that anonymous sources on the supply chain confirmed that the controversial design choice is a reality.
Before you sell or give away an old iPhone, Find My iPhone, which works in conjunction with Activation Lock (Apple's anti-theft system) needs to be deactivated from your iCloud account. This also applies if you've lost your passcode and are locked out of the device, if you're restoring to a previous iTunes backup, or just want to remove it from your list of iCloud devices.
When it comes time to sell your smartphone or trade it in for your annual upgrade, you'll have to make sure that all of the sensitive data the device accumulated while you owned it is properly erased so that no one else can access it. This process is referred to as a "Factory Reset," and regardless of if you own an iPhone or Android device, like a Samsung Galaxy model, HTC One, or Nexus, I'll show you how to do it below.
When you're in a bind and need an internet connection for your laptop, look no further than your iPhone. Using the Personal Hotspot feature in iOS, you can share your iPhone's internet connection with other devices by way of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or even USB.
If your smartphone is ever lost or stolen, it's a terrible experience. If you file a police report, chances are the responding officer will need your device's IMEI or MEID number if you want to stand a chance of getting it back. Same goes for making an insurance claim on a lost or broken phone, so it's definitely important to have this unique identifier handy.
