Just over a month ago, the Rubik's Cube world record was smashed by Mats Valk, a Dutch speedcuber, during the Jawa Timur Open 2016. Valk was able to shave 0.16 seconds off the previous record of 4.90 seconds, which was a pretty impressive feat.
With the death of Google's Nexus line, the market for phones with top-notch specs at midrange prices is now wide open. OnePlus is apparently ready to fill this void, as they've just announced the OnePlus 3T, an iterative update to their OnePlus 3 flagship only five months after initial release.
Today in Los Angeles, Unity will be at the Loews Hollywood Hotel to host Unite '16, its annual developer conference. Unite is Unity's platform for showing the development community its upcoming direction and roadmap for augmented and virtual reality, game development, 3D technology, and more.
For some strange reason, Google left several of the Pixel's best software features disabled by default. One of the more interesting tweaks that fall into this category is a gesture that puts your fingerprint scanner to use after you've unlocked your phone.
Snapchat accidentally—and then intentionally—announced their digital eyeglasses, known as Spectacles, over the weekend. While we'd hoped their augmented reality-heavy platform would result in related hardware, Spectacles unfortunately seek to "reinvent" little more than a video camera.
As first reported by Korean media outlet Yonhap News Agency, Samsung has issued a global recall for all of its Galaxy Note7 models (except China, it seems). This unprecedented move will surely do serious damage to the Note brand, and even Samsung itself.
When the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge came to market in 2016, they were universally praised as being the pinnacle of Android smartphone design, even topping Consumer Reports' smartphone ratings.
Gmail has been the email standard for quite some time now, and for good reason: it's a free service provided by one of the largest tech companies in the world that offers users an amazing feature set to manage, send, and keep track of all their important emails.
In the revamped Messages app in iOS 10, you can now send animated GIFs from your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch without a third-party keyboard like Giphy or GIF Keyboard.
Instagram is the world's biggest photo-sharing site, narrowly edging out competitors like Imgur and Flickr. But unlike the competition, Instagram doesn't make it easy for users to download a full-resolution copy of any of the images hosted on their servers, as the site's main intention is to keep folks coming back and using the social media aspect of it all.
If you've been keeping tabs on the rumor mill for the iPhone 7, one of the most discussed elements of Apple's upcoming device is the possible elimination of the headphone jack in favor of a Lightning connection.
One of Android's biggest strengths is its ability to interact with other operating systems. When you plug your phone into your Windows PC, you instantly see all of the files it holds—and all it takes is a simple syncing app to do the same with Mac. To top that off, apps like Pushbullet and Join bridge the gap even further by allowing you to share links, files, and messages between all of your devices.
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.
John Oliver sunk his teeth into Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during the long segment on the latest Last Week Tonight. The whole 21-minute video is definitely worth a watch, but the real fun starts around the 18-minute mark.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that Amazon will be offering full refunds for any hoverboard purchased through its site in the United States or Canada, no matter when you bought it. Just visit amazon.com/returns or amazon.com/contact-us to start the process. While they will not stop selling hoverboards anytime soon, they obviously want you to feel safe about your purchase.
Welcome back! Sorry I've been gone for so long, but if anyone has been keeping up with these articles, you'll know that when I get quiet, something is cooking under the surface. In other words, I've been working on a project lately, so I haven't had much time!
Since Android is an open source operating system, that means anyone with a little know-how can download, view, and even alter its underlying code base. Manufacturers do it all the time, which is how we end up with skins like TouchWiz and Sense. But when Android's awesome third-party development community gets their hands on this code, we end up with custom ROMs like LineageOS and MIUI.
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.
The native dictionaries in iOS, which have been around since 2011, let you define words on your iPhone on the fly in Safari, News, Notes, and other apps. But if you read or write in more than just English, you won't be able to see accurate definitions unless you add those other languages to your list of dictionaries manually.
Now that Chromecast has taken the title of top-selling media streaming device and held onto it for well over a year, game developers absolutely have to take Google's $35 streaming stick seriously. As a result, we're starting to see big-time media and game companies throw their hats into the proverbial Chromecast ring, with new interactive offerings that pair your smartphone and your big screen in spectacular fashion.
Windows 10 runs on laptops, desktops, tablets, and even phones—but even though the operating system should scale accordingly, fonts and icons aren't always perfectly sized for every screen. Luckily, though, there's a handy new menu for adjusting the size of your screen's contents, which you can use to make everything bigger or smaller to match your preferences.
For some time now, iPhone owners have been able to use Siri to listen to and reply to text messages, but that functionality has been lacking on Android. That is, until Google silently rolled out a similar feature for Google Now (thanks to Android Police for the tip).
Windows has always had an "Administrator" account that allowed you to install programs and manage system files with elevated privileges. The difference between this account and a regular user account with administrator access was that you never got bothered by annoying User Account Control popups when you were logged in as Administrator.
If you're a fan of the Metal Gear video game series, an obvious Halloween costume choice would be Solid Snake, the protagonist of nearly all of the games. However, an even better option would be Big Boss, aka John, Ishmael, Vic Boss, The Man Who Sold the World, and Naked Snake, among many other aliases. He's was once a good man, but better known as the nemesis to Solid Snake. The below costume by YouTube user Erick Zeros showcases Naked Snake in his good era, in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eate...
I'm a PlayStation 4 owner, but also enjoy gaming on my Mac. Though it may not be as synonymous with computer gaming as a Windows system, it's still a great experience. But what makes it even better is ditching the keyboard and mouse for my PS4's DualShock controller.
The Start menu is finally back in Windows 10, but a lot has changed since we last saw it in Windows 7. From a visual standpoint, the first difference you'll notice is the addition of live tiles, which occupy the right half of the Start menu and provide quick information from your "Universal" Windows apps.
The Xposed Framework is a very powerful platform on top of which smaller modules can run to make changes to the Android system and various other apps. Installing modules is just as easy as sideloading any Android app, but afterwards, you'll need to activate the module and reboot your device.
When you're browsing the web, going through emails, or reading a book or magazine, you'll occasionally come across a word or phrase that you haven't seen before. This would be a perfect time to have some sort of built-in dictionary lookup service, but most Android apps lack such a feature.
Google's Android TV-powered set-top box normally sells for about $100, but for the next 4 days, the Nexus Player can be purchased for roughly half that price when you consider credits.
Regardless of the size and metal-type you purchased, storage and space are limited on the Apple Watch, so stuffing it full of apps like you'd do on your iPhone may not be in your best interest. If you went app crazy when you first set up your Apple Watch, don't worry—it's easy to uninstall some of them. Just know that you can only delete third-party apps, which means stock apps like Photos or Workout are there to stay.
The more we use our smartphones, the more storage space becomes occupied—it's an inescapable fact. But as the data accumulates and chokes off our storage, it can become difficult to identify exactly which files are occupying the most space.
When you press the "Call" button on most Bluetooth headsets, the majority of Android devices will launch a built-in Voice Dialer app. This app has been around since the dawn of Android, and has received very few interface or functionality updates.
S Health is one of the biggest selling points for newer Samsung Galaxy devices. It offers a centralized place to view and manage data collected by all of the various sensors like the heart rate monitor.
Sometimes specs aren't everything, especially if you prefer value over the bleeding-edge. Enter the ZTE ZMAX, an Android phone that you can get right now for less than $200—cheaper than even the Nexus 5 or OnePlus One. If you're looking for a cheap high-end phone, it's hard to go wrong with one that sports a 5.7-inch display, expandable storage, and a massive 3400mAh battery that'll easily get you through a full day of use.
Sometimes it's not the look of a product that makes it unique, but the thought that went into it. That's what struck me about TobyRich's SmartPlane—it isn't the most elegant toy on the market, but its simplicity and function make it a winner.
Sitting at home alone on Friday night, I'm often in the mood to watch something more recent than the offerings on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video. And since the demise of video rental stores, that leaves me with browsing through the Redbox catalogue, then strolling down to the nearest 7-Eleven to pick up my movie.
Android is all about customization: "Be together. Not the same," as Google's latest ads for the platform put it. Changing your device's boot animation, for instance, is one of the many great ways you can add a touch of personal flair.
Not every mod you add to your Android will revolutionize the way you use it, but many of them can make things a little more simple and convenient for you on a regular basis, like sliding across the status bar to adjust brightness or swiping the screen to put your display to sleep.
With the Power key located on the back of the device, LG included a convenient "double-tap to sleep" function in their G2 and G3 devices. The function allows users to simply double-tap the display to put their device to sleep instead of picking it up and pressing the Power key.
Automator takes the work out of common repetitive tasks. I don't enjoy compressing videos for quick sharing or uploading to the web, so I created an Automator action to handle the process for me.
